KZN hospitals stressed by staff shortages

With only three nurses staffing a ward of 60, they still have to do the cleaning

- BONGANI HANS

AMID a dire shortage of medical healthcare workers, many nurses in KwaZulu-Natal are forced to start their shift with cleaning duties and clerical work, as many healthcare facilities in the province do not have the staff to do it.

This was revealed by the provincial secretary of the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (Denosa), Andile Mbeje, this week, reacting to reports of severe medical staff shortages at healthcare facilities such as the Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital in Durban.

This was despite Finance MEC Francois Rodgers having pledged that the provincial government would prioritise frontline departments, which are health, education, and social development, when it came to budgets.

Mbeje said the shortage of medical staff was felt in almost all public and rural facilities.

When asked about budget cuts, national health spokesperson Foster Mohale referred the question to the KZN health department, which is yet to respond to questions sent to its spokesperson, Ncumisa Mafunda, on Thursday.

Mbeje said that while sweeping and mopping floors, work that they were not employed and paid to do, nurses had to delay attending to patients.

It was reported that the medical staff and medication shortages, due to budget cuts, caused the facilities to struggle to function effectively.

"In Ekuvukeni Clinic in Ladysmith, nurses who are expected to report for night shifts do the clerical work because there are no clerks."