Union pulls night shift staff after attack at 24-hour Thokoza clinic

The Democratic Nursing Organisation of SA (Denosa) has withdrawn its members from night-shift duty at the Phola Park Clinic in Thokoza in Ekurhhuleni following a security breach at the health facility on Sunday night.

Three men entered the 24-hour health facility carrying knives and searched for a man who had been stabbed in an apparent attempt to finish off the murder at the clinic. The men went from room to room, damaging property in the process.

The incident on Sunday night happened just a day after another attack at a public hospital in Gauteng.

Compromised

The union said it had had withdrawn its members from working night shift at the clinic until their safety was guaranteed. It said its decision was in line with a meeting in April 2017 in which security at the clinic was compromised.

The union said it had warned the employer that if another security breach occurred at the facility, it would withdraw members from the facility.

Denosa said nurses would only will only work from 7am to 7pm daily until their safety was assured.

Dangerous

The union said poor safety and security in health facilities would disadvantage the very same communities they served.

“Denosa repeats that nurses have the right to refuse to work in a dangerous environment.  The main concern is that the government responds only once an incident has occurred: a health worker must be injured or killed before the right thing is done,” Denosa Ekurhuleni secretary Lebo Khumalo said.