The Orsmond Tuberculosis Hospital in Kariega in the Eastern Cape has been closed to patients for almost two years, yet the provincial health department has continued paying staff salaries, to the tune of R67 million, according to the Democratic Alliance.
News24 reports that Eastern Cape MPL Jane Cowley said that this ‘shocking revelation’ emerged in a reply to a parliamentary question.
Cowley is reported as saying: ‘Forty-five medical employees refused to be allocated to other medical facilities in the district, despite this being agreed to by their unions.’
Further answers to Cowley’s questions revealed that an agreement had already been reached ‘with labour in the interim and while the bigger organisation-wide service delivery optimisation and organogram is under review, the remaining staff will be gainfully employed’.
Cowley said: ‘Hospitals and clinics across the province are dealing with dire staff shortages, which has crippled service delivery to patients in critical need of healthcare. Instead of filling these vacant posts, the department pays staff at a defunct institution millions for absolutely no work.’
News24 reports that Cowley has written to Eastern Cape Health MEC Nomakhosazana Meth demanding the matter be attended to immediately.
[Image: Darko Stojanovic from Pixabay]