ABOUT 80 hospital workers have downed tools because they are sick and tired of being robbed at their clinic.
The workers at Laetitia Bam Day Hospital in KwaNobuhle, Uitenhage, in the Eastern Cape protested yesterday.
They are complaining about the increase in attacks on workers and hospital equipment. Doctors and nurses also joined in the strike and patients went home without being treated.
The workers said they will only work after security at the hospital has been beefed up.
Siyabulela Velezantsi, a radiographer and spokesman for the workers, said they had approached the health department, the local councillor and the cops to provide security but nothing changed.
“We are living in constant fear of being robbed or stabbed,” he said.
Velezantsi told said that last year he was chased by a patient with a knife demanding attention.
“A nurse was attacked in the maternity ward and robbed of personal belongings,” he said.
“Security guards were recently robbed at gun point. If these criminals can rob people who guard us, what chance have we got?
“We need an urgent response from officials.”
Velezantsi said the government must provide surveillance cameras and panic buttons and said security guards should be armed. Hospital staff also want the cops to conduct regular patrols.
Nwabisa Stemele, who was visiting the maternity ward, said she was unhappy that the hospital was closed. “It is bad that the community attacks and robs workers. This hospital is meant to save lives but criminals don’t care.”
Health spokesman Lwandile Sicwetsha said it is illegal for nurses to strike. “The department is attending to the safety concerns,” he said. “In the meantime, police are patrolling the hospital at night.”
