SABRINA DEAN – The Free State Health Department says the situation is stable at Pelonomi Hospital where radiography workers were striking last night.
Spokesperson Mondli Mvambi says the hospital was still able to attend to patients involved in numerous separate accidents last night, including one on Vereeniging Drive, one along the N1 outside Bloemfontein and one on route to Wepener.
“All those patients have been seen. X-rays were conducted and medical attention afforded to them,” he says.
He has reassured the public that staff members are on call to conduct x-rays and says the hospital will be able to attend to any emergencies at the weekend.
Mvambi says the strike is over non-payment of overtime but adds the Department is engagng with unions and adds the provincial health HOD is in the process of procuring full payment.
He says the problem is that radiography staff are not classified as shift workers, which means they claim exhorbitant overtime amounts when working outside of normal office hours.
He says the reclassification of these workers is being addressed by the department as a matter of urgency.
