Calls to the 10177 emergency line are still going unanswered and ambulances are remaining parked this week as the medical strike that began early last week continues, with unions disagreeing with the draft agreement offered by the department of health yesterday, claiming it was vague.
Calls to the 10177 emergency line are still going unanswered and ambulances are remaining parked this week as the medical strike that began early last week continues, with unions disagreeing with the draft agreement offered by the department of health yesterday, claiming it was vague.
National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union shop steward Mbuleli Gongqa, who works in Grahamstown's Emergency Medical Services, said they disagreed with the draft because the department was not committing itself to anything.
"There are just promises but no commitment. It is not indicated when are they going to start paying PMDS and from which year, so we are not going to sign it until we are satisfied," said Gongqa yesterday.
He said the agreement was vague and because of that they would not resume normal operations until they were satisfied. "The union is going to meet again with the department tomorrow and discuss the agreement. We really thought we were going to get back to work today, but that did not happen," he said.
Meanwhile the primary healthcare clinics in Grahamstown were in dire situations with patients needing transport which was not available to them. One nurse who did not want to be named told Grocott's Mail today that in their clinic they had an old woman who had a fractured hip and needed a stretcher bed but they could not help her.
"It is frustrating to see our people in such a situation and there is nothing we can do. We deal with patients who have MDR and some have renal failure and sometimes they need to be transported to the hospital in Port Elizabeth but there is not transport. We actually don't know what is going on really," she said.
