HeraldLIVE reports that a dispute between union members and management at the Livingstone and Provincial hospitals in Port Elizabeth has now trickled down to patients, with some having been turned away over the past few days.  

A doctor at Provincial Hospital claimed that staff had stopped washing linen and, without bedding, patients could not be admitted.  Union members, however, said it was not a case of members refusing to wash linen but rather staff shortages that were causing problems.  On Wednesday, health department spokesperson Siyanda Manana confirmed that workers were on a go-slow.  The dispute centres around personal protective equipment (PPE) and also, according to the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu), payment for overtime.  Hospital management and unions were locked in meetings for the better part of Wednesday.  PPE in the Nelson Mandela Bay area has been a thorny issue since the spread of the Covid-19 virus, with constant protests, staff go-slows and claims that hospital management was holding back PPE.  Nehawu’s Sweetness Stokwe defended union members, saying they were not refusing to wash linen but had simply stopped going over and above their job requirements.  “There’s a huge staff shortage at Livingstone hospital and, for the longest time, our members have been doing the work of many people,” she stated, adding that staff at Livingstone had been told that non-clinical staffers would not be paid overtime as from 1 June.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Nomazima Nkosi and Angela Daniels at HeraldLIVE

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