Protest action has reached fever pitch at Middelburg Provincial Hospital in Mpumalanga, where nurses and cleaning staff have downed tools in solidarity with neglected patients.

Middelburg Observer reports that reliable sources in the hospital’s wards have confirmed the strike, but said that patient treatment is not being refused. Rather, the strike is for the patients, they said.

The protesting staff have made allegations of mismanagement and are demanding that ‘management must go’.

According to reliable sources, patients have no choice but to bring their bedding or be forced to sleep on mattresses, covered in plastic.

“We have been given disposable plastic gowns by management to cover the mattresses with… There is no water… We only have hot water occasionally, and our patients are frequently forced to bathe in sparse, cold water.”

The sources also allege that some staff members have not received overtime payments, with some still waiting for overtime compensation since April.

Additionally, they state that the hospital is understaffed, with a ratio of three nurses per 33 patients, and say that the hospital CEO and nursing manager have ‘attitudes’.

“The nursing staff are in a very difficult situation, because our patients hold us responsible, in some instances, nurses are assaulted by their patients.”

Councillor Elsie Vermooten previously responded to the strike, saying that while she condemns violence and damage to infrastructure, she sympathises with the conditions in which patients are left and nurses have to work.

The hospital has been struggling with continued sewage spills, water interruptions and a lack of maintenance for several years.

Residents involved in Gholfsig’s Tidy Town Project said that the property is overgrown and brimming with rubbish. Visitors often use the bushes to relieve themselves, and growing piles of human excrement are a biological hazard.

According to reliable sources, a meeting with management will be held later today.

Middelburg Observer has approached the Department of Health for comment on the allegations, but no comment had been received at the time of publishing. Media spokesperson Christopher Nobela said he will investigate and respond accordingly.

@middelburgobserver

Nurses and cleaning staff strike at Middelburg Provincial Hospital due to decaying conditions.

♬ original sound – MiddelburgObserver – MiddelburgObserver

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