More than 600 nursing interns who played a crucial role in the Eastern Cape’s Covid-19 response are out in the cold after the provincial health department decided not to renew their contracts.
The nurses, who have been working on one-year internship contracts at hospitals across the province, were told on Monday there was no money to pay them.
It is a bitter blow, as they thought they were to sign contracts to absorb them permanently into the health department on the same day.
Instead, they were told they could only be considered for employment in April, when the budget for the new financial year becomes available.
Detailed queries were sent to provincial health spokesperson Siyanda Manana at 10.06am on Wednesday.
In a follow-up phone call, Manana said he was about to enter a meeting and would respond once he was done.
No further response was received by DispatchLIVE by print deadline.
DispatchLIVE spoke to five of the 625 nursing interns from different parts of the province, many of whom gathered at the provincial health department’s head office in Bhisho on Wednesday to submit a memorandum of grievances over the contract termination.
All the nurses spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing they would be overlooked for future employment in the health department if they were named.
A nurse employed at Bhisho Hospital said: “The practice in the province was that when nursing interns’ contracts ended they would get absorbed into the system.
“That’s the assumption we all had because the department was silent the whole time. They did not say there was a chance we would not be absorbed because of money problems.”
She said on Friday, the interns were asked to submit all their documents, including qualifications and bank details, by Monday. The expectation was they would then sign appointment letters.
However, on Monday, they were told to wait for instructions from department heads before signing or submitting any documentation.
“We got called by the CEO and we were told there was no money to employ us.
“They are going to consider us in April. Hopefully then there would be money to fund our salaries.
“But we don’t have anything in writing that speaks,” one of the nurses said.
“Some of us have home loans and car instalments. I can’t go the bank with the story — this is not a spaza shop.”
Another nursing intern from Bhisho Hospital said the “funny thing” was that other professionals, such as doctors and physiotherapists, had been hired by the department.
“Some of them have been accommodated in B&Bs paid for by the department. Yet when it comes to hiring us there is no money, even while hospitals and clinics continue to be understaffed during the pandemic.”
A nurse from Nelson Mandela Bay's Livingstone Hospital felt “used” by the government”, saying their services were no longer valued now that Covid-19 vaccines had been discovered.
“We nursed Covid-19 patients during the peak of the virus. So now the vaccine has arrived we are no longer needed,” she said.
“I’m paying a home loan. I’m the sole breadwinner in my family.
“The worst part of this [is] they told us this on the same day we were expecting to be hired. They could have given us a three-month notice period so we could make arrangements with our banks.”
A nurse from Uitenhage hospital described the government as “selfish”.
“This is unfair. We have families to work for. Some people are still paying off student loans. Our government is just being disrespectful.”
A nursing intern from Alexandria Clinic, about 100km east of Port Elizabeth, said he worked long hours without pay in the hope he would be permanently employed.
“We gave ourselves to working for this department during a terrible situation. We expected to at least get a job. Now we are unemployed after we sacrificed. Now who will look after the sick?”
National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) Eastern Cape provincial secretary Mickey Jaceni said there was a serious shortage of staff in the department.
“We need everybody’s hands on deck to lower the curve of this virus, yet now we are told the department has not budgeted for many of the staff.
“Nurses are among many suffering from that decision,” he said.
Jaceni said it could not be that the department was broke at a time when it was expected to be saving lives.
“They should call the national health department to ask for money as they await budget approval for the new financial year.
“We will assist these nurses to challenge the matter with the relevant bargaining council for their immediate reinstatement.”
Jaceni said the department had not addressed the union on how the Covid-19 vaccines would be distributed, yet now it was getting rid of people trained for the job.
DispatchLIVE
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