Nurses negotiating for better deal
"The health department is failing to look after the very same nurses they have taken to school."
The Young Nurses Indaba(YNI) met the national department of health and the SA Nursing Council (SANC) recently to discuss nurses’ grievances.
The talks came after the YNI staged a protest marched earlier this year, wearing black clothes.
They demanded a pay rise, better working conditions and the decentralisation of SANC.
YNI spokesperson Lerato Madumo Gova said the YNI met with the department on 8 April to discuss salaries increases, the abolishment of extensive community service and allocation of adequate staff.
“The very same health department is failing to look after the very same nurses they have taken to school,” Madumo Gova said.
“The public service has a problem with resources, staffing and infrastructure.”
National Health spokesperson Joe Maila said the department met the YNI to clarify issues.
“We wanted to iron out our issues with them as the department so that we bring them in the loop with what our core function is,” Maila said.
“We do take the issues of our nurses seriously.”
The YNI said it wanted SANC to reduce accreditation and registration fees and to decentralise their office in Pretoria by providing workshops countrywide.
“There are currently approximately 278 000 registered nurses who pay a minimum of R550 per annum. That amount should be used for nurse and patient advocacy,” Madumo Gova said.
SANC spokesperson Party-Day Moloi said the council was working on an e-business transformation project aimed at creating efficiency to allow online access to nurses.
“We also intend on conducting a feasibility study on the possibility of establishing service centres outside the Pretoria office,” Moloi said.
“The outcome of the projects which is expected to be available at the end of March 2017 will have an impact on improving accessibility to members, which may include establishment of service centres outside of the Pretoria office.”
She said SANC had seen a need to increase service for nurses through three- to five-day provincial outreach visits.
Also read:
Nurses threaten to strike
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