Delay in death reports as pathology strike continues
The strike is already in its second week and the Department of Health has confirmed a backlog in autopsies.
POLOKWANE – This results in a delay in the signing of death certificates for the duration of the protest, and local families have already been feeling the pressure when wanting to finalise funeral arrangements.
Spokesperson for the department, Derick Kganyago confirmed the autopsy backlog and that the agreement between the union and the department had since been breached as employees feel their demands have not been met.
Kganyago said a meeting was arranged between the hospital employees and the department with regard to the matter.
Local forensic assistants approached Review last week saying they have stopped working on autopsies as they are not qualified to do so.
This comes after they allege they have received no accreditation or recognition for work they have done for several years.
Read more: Pathologists down tools at Pietersburg Provincial Hospital
They spoke to Review anonymously for fear of victimisation and said the problem started around 10 years ago when they were called to start doing dissection as part of an in-house and in-service training programme.
“Some of us have been here for 10 years, yet we are still referred to as assistant pathologists while in fact we are doing the work of pathologists without the proper qualifications or recognition. We were promised that a course would be established so we could become qualified pathologists, yet nothing has come of it,” one of the employees said.
They said that after doing the dissection of people for between five and 10 years they have the experience to have degrees but are not given the chance to obtain the qualification to prove this by the Department of Health.
This is also the reason that the strike started again on Monday this week, after Nehawu’s discussions with the department ended in an agreement that workers would go back to work on Friday, 30 June.
“We want the accreditation and that pay that goes along with doing what we have been doing in the past years. We also want some form of compensation for the service that we have been giving in the past years. Until this is sorted out we can not go back to work,” one employee said.
“They have been dragging their feet to give us our qualifications, because the work is being done and we are good at what we do, yet we do not get recognition and we are at risk of injury or infection which we will not be covered for as we are not qualified (and not supposed) to do the work we do. We have engaged with the department at many levels but have received no feedback regarding our grievances,” employees told Review.
In KwaZulu-Natal, mortuary workers were on strike since the beginning of June for better benefits. This led to a court order by both the National Department of Health and the DA demanding they go back to work.
