Picture: (Taung hospital staff embark on strike)
By OBAKENG MAJE
Patients were left unattended at the Taung District Hospital in Taung on Thursday after nurses downed tools. The striking nurses said they demand justice after one of their own was ‘ill-treated’ by the National Parliament speaker, Thandi Modise and the management did nothing.
One of the nurses who refused to be named for fear of reprisal said: “On 26 December 2019, the National Assembly speaker, Thandi Modise arrived at the hospital to come and check on her ailing brother who since passed away. Modise arrived at around 9am, which was out of visiting hours.
“Her brother was admitted to the hospital at ward F. When she arrived at the reception, we asked if we could assist her. However, she was rude to us and called us names. She also asked if we know who she was.”
One of the sources said Modise allegedly forced her was to the wards even though she was told to wait for visiting hours. It is alleged that Modise called the hospital CEO, Tumediso Setlhodi to come and ‘reprimand his dogs’.
According to our source, Setlhodi arrived at the hospital along with the hospital Board of Directors chairperson, James Gadinabokao. Setlhodi allegedly reprimanded one of the nurses who was in talks with Modise and threatened to fire him, while Gadinabokao hauled unprinted words to the on-duty nurses.
Picture: National Parliament speaker, Thandi Modise
Now, nurses said they demand to see the North West MEC for Health, Madoda Sambatha to address their challenges. They also want Gadinabokao to be removed as the chairperson of the Board of Directors at the hospital.
North West Health department spokesperson, Tebogo Lekgethwane said the department is aware of the allegations leveled against Modise.
“Yes, the department is aware of this matter, however, Modise always calls on MECs whenever she visits government facilities to raise issues of service delivery nature. It was also the case in this instance and not about a hassle with any employee. She merely gave the MEC complaints that were raised by patients in the hospital and requested them to be attended to.
“The CEO has also denied making any threats to any employee, but demanded that employees do their work accordingly. Visiting hours of the hospital is between 12pm-1pm and 5pm-6pm daily. No prominent people/persons get special treatment while visiting the hospital,” Lekgethwane said.
He further said Gadinabokao as chairperson of the Board of Directors at the hospital has the responsibility to attend to complains raised by the community irrespective of their status. Lekgethwane added that Gadinabokao said he attended to a number of complaints during the month of December and in all of them he requested employees to assist patients where patients were complaining.
The National Parliament spokesperson, Moloto Mothapo said Modise was affected by the treatment she received in the hands of nurses.
“Honestly, we should be concerned by the horrendous and outrageous treatment patients and community members suffer at the hands of that hospital’s rude and indifferent staff, which makes mockery of our healthcare system, instead of being used by them to discredit victims.
“Just ask yourself, if they could treat an MP in this manner, who also has oversight powers under the law to inspect service delivery at that facility, what hope do we have for ordinary members of the public?”
Mothapo added that he was not going to bother Modise with the inquiry as she is grieving the death of her brother and certainly would not want to relive the trauma she and family suffered at the hands of that hospital staff.
The Guardian 