Frontier Hospital staff describe a work environment of intimidation, fear and low morale.
This week, 72 workers at the hospital tested positive for the virus, with one nurse having died last week.
Workers who have spoken to The Rep on condition of anonymity said the hospital was not prepared to deal with Covid-19 patients, something that has put the lives of both personnel and patients at risk.
“There is only one sanitiser per ward and this week there was a shortage of PPE,” said a nurse who had recently gone into quarantine.
They said wards dedicated for Covid-19 patients had become a hotbed for viral transmission, disinfection never having been done as staff infections continued to rise. “When the nurses from Nonesi and B-Block (wards) started testing positive we were told to fill in though they had not been disinfected. I personally had to leave my ward. At some stage I was the only nurse on duty for one of the wards,” said a nurse who is now also Covid-19 positive.
The steady increase of staff on quarantine has led to shortages, with wards usually attended to by seven healthcare workers being reduced to one nurse or no staff at all. “On my last day I had to do everything. I started by serving the patients meals in the morning. When I asked who was working night shift they said no nurse had been on night shift for two nights,” added another nurse.
Because of the staff shortage, the distraught workers claimed they had been forced to work even if they were “contacts”, being told to wait for symptoms before requesting a test. They said others had been ordered back to work without being retested.
“We are now told we need permission from matrons to be tested and booked off. We have tested privately because they do not want more staff on quarantine,” claimed another.
A nurse, who was near tears, said she was most hurt because no care and support had been offered to those who tested positive. “You are just told you are positive and to go home. I have a family and had no place to self-isolate. I put them directly at risk. There was no plan for the people we expose to be tested, instead we have to pay for their tests. The medication we need runs out and it is none of their business.
“I do not want to go back there. You do not even get phone call to ask how you are doing. We are just expected to go back to work,” said the nurse.
Exacerbating the situation at the hospital was the keeping of psychiatric patients who the workers said they were not trained to handle.
“They are kept in one of the wards dedicated to Covid-19 cases. They are only supposed to be there for 72 hours, but have been there for weeks. We are not trained to deal with them,” said another.
The Rep was in possession of pictures in which files were strewn on the hospital floor, allegedly following a disturbance by the patients.
Democratic Nurses Organisation of South Africa (Denosa) regional chairperson, Andisile Pampila said they had raised the staff concerns with hospital management. Pampila said the union was now going to take the issues up with Chris Hani District Municipality (CHDM).
“We have requested a meeting with the chief director of health at Chris Hani to discuss all the Covid-19 issues across the district. We also want psychological support for staff.”
On the fumigation of the hospital, Pampila said the union would not compromise on their closure. “The issue of the wards is a big concern. It is non-negotiable, they should have been closed and fumigated. That is going to happen.”
Pampila said the hospital should have taken more responsibility for tracing of staff member contacts because it was “undermining” the fight against the virus. “It cannot be correct that guidelines are implemented in other institutions and yet the same guidelines cannot be implemented by us,” he said.
At the time of publishing, response from the Department of Health to questions about the complaints raised by the staff had not yet been received.