October2014 | www.nehawu.org.za October 2014 | www.nehawu.org.za NEHAWU NURSES’ FORUM BULLETIN NEHAWU Nurses’ Forum Bulletin BUILDING STRONG WORKPLACE CLASS CONSCIOUSNESS BUILDING STRONG WORKPLACEORGANISATION, ORGANISATION, CLASS CONSCIOUSNESS AND INTERNATIONALISM AND INTERNATIONALISM October 2014 | www.nehawu.org.za contents Message from NEHAWU General Secretary 01 National Nurses’ Forum 02 Activities of the Nurses’ Forum 03 We welcome feedback on the issues we cover in NEHAWU Nurses Bulletin. Please feel free to email us your comments to [email protected] For more information go to www.nehawu.org.za. Join Us on the following Social Networks Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/pages/National-EducationHealth-and-Allied-Workers-Union/277356915617920 Twitter | http://twitter.com/#!/NEHAWU Written by Policy Development Unit, Produced by Communications. NEHAWU Nurses’ Forum Bulletin BUILDING STRONG WORKPLACE ORGANISATION, CLASS CONSCIOUSNESS AND INTERNATIONALISM October 2014 | www.nehawu.org.za NEHAWU National Office Bearers, from left to right. President - Comrade Mzwandile Michael Makwayiba, 1st Deputy PresidentComrade Michael Shingange, 2nd Deputy President - Comrade Nyameka Macanda, National Treasurer - Comrade Kgomotso Makhupola, General Secretary - Comrade Bereng Soke & Deputy General Secretary - Comrade Zola Saphetha. MESSAGE FROM NEHAWU GENERAL SECRETARY Comrades Kindly receive our profound revolutionary greetings on behalf of the national office bearers. Indeed, we are very excited to issue this first bulletin which is about matters and plight of nurses and the role to be played by the union therefore in improving their situation and creating better working conditions. NEHAWU is strategically located in the public health to amongst others work jointly with the Department of Health and other progressive organisations to transform the healthcare system including improving services to the people of South Africa the sector serve. The union, for many years, has championed many campaigns in the sector such as the introduction of National Health Insurance (NHI) and improving the nursing fraternity in many fronts, etc. Indeed, the National Health Insurance is a transformative project that ensures a universal access for everyone in order to meaningfully deliver an improved quality of life which restores the dignity of the poor. NHI provides universal, free quality public health care for all and for this to happen the public sector must be built to become the main and ultimately sole provider of healthcare services, hence the union supports the Primary Healthcare Approach. The union recognises that nurses are a backbone of our health services hence its resolution to establish the Nurses Forums across the layers of its structures with an aim to create a platform for nurses in order to discuss and share experiences on daily struggles in delivering health services. The union therefore is obligated to address all concerns of its members including matters previously considered professional issues. The Nurses Forum is a platform to ensure that the union addresses all issues pertaining to nursing fraternity . This bulletin is aimed at updating members of the union on the work done thus far since the inception of Nurses Forums and campaigns thereof. The union working with its sister union in London, UNISON, will produce relevant training and campaign materials including a Nurses Magazine to be published quarterly. The magazine will also serve as a voice and platform for the nurses and through our signed memorandum with UNISON the union will send delegations periodically as part of its exchange programme to United Kingdom for further training and experience sharing. In this regard, we want to welcome the nursing fraternity to this first nurses’ bulletin and kindly invite all members to NEHAWU General Secretary - Comrade Bereng Soke use this bulletin as a form of sharing experiences and stories including interacting with the national leadership of the union on matters pertaining to the profession and other health related matters. Aluta Continua. Establishment of the Nurses Forums The 9th National Congress called for the rebuilding of professional forums in the union including the Nurses Forum towards building strong and vibrant branches that are politically conscious. The union has successfully established Nurses Forums in all our branches and elected coordinators. This process was followed by the establishment of Regional Nurses Forums with elected regional coordinators and subsequently to all 9 provinces elected from regional Nurses coordinators. Each provincial nurse’s forum has an elected provincial coordinator and this process culminated to the launch of the National Nurses Forum. The national nurses coordinator was elected from provincial coordinators and is introduced in this bulletin. In this regard, we introduce to you members of the National Nurses Forum with its elected co-coordinator at the helm. It must be mentioned that the National Nurses Forum is constituted by provincial co-oridinators and members of the health subcommittee who are nurses by profession. * NATIONAL NURSES FORUM MEMBERS Mzwandile Makwayiba - NEHAWU President Nyameka Macanda - NEHAWU 2nd Deputy President Ndoyisile Sekwati - National Co-Ordinator Nomafengu Siyo-Sokutu - EC Provincial Co-ordinator Nobukhosi Xulu - KZN Provincial Co-ordinator Anna Mabirimisa - LMP Provincial Co-ordinator Samuel Ntidisang - NC Provincial Co-ordinator Gertrude Gininda - MP Provincial C0-ordinator Dipuo Wesi - FS Provincial Co-ordinator Khathutshelo Ralushai - GP Provincial Co-oridnator Namelang Isaac- NW Provincial Co-ordinator Margaret Dlamini - NHSC Montseng Tsiu - NHSC Sylvia Mohlahlo - NHSC Tshegofatso Moralo - National Organiser (Public Health) Solly Legodi - National Organiser (Private Health) Sheila Barsel - Health Reseacher December Mavuso - Head of OSEC BUILDING STRONG WORKPLACE ORGANISATION, CLASS CONSCIOUSNESS AND INTERNATIONALISM NEHAWU Nurses’ Forum Bulletin 01 October 2014 | www.nehawu.org.za National Nurses’ Forum Following the election of the provincial co-ordinators, a workshop was convened for all members of the national nurse’s forum in 2013. The purpose of that workshop was to induct members about their roles and responsibilities, identify challenges and also develop a comprehensive programme of action aimed at the transformation of health sector as an integral part of the more radical second phase of transition. Through this programme of actionthe union intends to disseminate information about key current policies, programmes and projects that are underway in the health sector. The induction workshop commenced with a discussion and input on the Primary Health Care Approach (PHCA). Participants spoke on the challenges of implementing the PHCA in reality at their workplaces because of insufficient human resource capacity in terms of numbers and skills, and structures for intersectoral collaboration to overcome problems related to social determinants of health (e.g. poverty, food security, water, sanitation, education, housing and infrastructure) were not always in place. The forum expressed strong support for the health reforms pertaining to the Re-engineering of Primary Health Care (PHC) and confirmed the need to assist in monitoring the roll out of this programme. This was followed by a presentation and discussion on the National Health Insurance (NHI), Re-engineering of PHC and NEHAWU’s approach to the NHI. Questions related to the NHI pilot sites raised issues for further discussion and action. However, key issues raised were the need to 02 NEHAWU Nurses’ Forum Bulletin raise awareness amongst NEHAWU members and communities of the NHI; the need to restructure nursing education so that the curricula is focused on the PHCA, NHI and full integration of Community Health Workers (CHWs) into the services. On the South African Nursing Council, the workshop overwhelmingly called for a complete transformation of the Nursing Council, including the method of nominations or appointments to the Council, and for the Council to proactively support curriculum transformation. The nurses are trained to work in hospitals and not at primary level and in communities. Therefore, nurses must be at the forefront in curricula review of all health professionals so that they can lead inter professional practice at facility and community level. The workshop received a presentation from the Director General of the Department of Health on the National Strategic Plan for Nurse Education, Training and Practice. Key issues which were raised by Forum members are as follows:i) Agreement on nurses’ uniforms; ii) The need to strengthen relations with the department as an important union organising nurses; iii) The difficult conditions of the working environment; BUILDING STRONG WORKPLACE ORGANISATION, CLASS CONSCIOUSNESS AND INTERNATIONALISM October 2014 | www.nehawu.org.za iv) The negative impact of nurses engaging in remuneration outside the public service on the level of service delivery, v) The importance of CHWs being accepted and integrated into the health system without losing their accountability to the communities in which they work. Focusing on the need for action, the workshop agreed on the roles and responsibilities of the national and provincial nursing forums. In developing a strategy for organising nurses, groups looked at strategies for recruiting nurses and CHWs into NEHAWU; the National Department of Health Strategic Plan on Nursing Education, Training and Practice; and transforming the Nursing Council and Hospital/Clinic Boards while developing active nursing forums in branches. Activities of the Nurses’ Forum The Nurses Forums as a substructure of the national executive committee is expected to meet atleast four times a year. The National Nurses Forum held two meetings since the beginning of this year on the 18th March and 11th July 2014. The recent meeting of July 2014 was chaired and opened by the 2nd Deputy President, comrade Nyameka Macanda. In her opening remarks she reminded comrades about the important role of the Nurses Forum as nurses are working to under difficult conditions. She highlighted the security of the nurses and health workers in general as a challenge that must be tackled. As nurses we must monitor and participate in the implementation of NHI. The union is concerned that NHI project in the pilot sites is not going well. She ended by calling on the members to recruit nurses into the union. The President, Cde Mzwandile Michael Mkwayiba, addressed the meeting of 11 July and alluded to the following; It was important that nurses find the balance between their professionalism and their class status as nurses. He said that nurses can never succeed in their struggles without the solidarity of all other workers. Some nurses believe that their profession can help them to escape their class exploitation, and further indicated that the nurse’s forum coordinators must be taken to the political school to sharpen their class consciousness working with WFTU. He further pointed out that the nurse auxiliaries (Enrolled Nurse Assistants (ENAs)), who in fact, help to train the professional nurses when they are students, are then exploited by those very same professional nurses who later supervise the ENAs who were once their teachers. The President believes that only NEHAWU can change this. It is important, the President stated, that the union must understand the profession and the key issues which affect nurses, such as, conditions in the workplace, working hours, child care and study leaves. The nurses are working under difficult conditions with lack of equipment and medicines to treat their patients. The President further identified challenges facing nurses such as “work overload, working beyond their scope of practice and being exploited in the workplace” which increasingly causing stress and nurses to seek employment in other sectors. In addition to these challenges, the President pointed to age profile, shortage of nurses, poor working conditions, a high rate of violence and abuse in the workplace, lack of training opportunities and the burden of HIV and Aids as nurses had now become terminal caregivers not healers Indeed, the President argued that the union is quite aware of how unsafe our public hospitals are as we have had incidents in the past of nurses being killed at work. The brutal attacks and rapes are taking place inside hospitals simply because some in government would rather work in the interest of the tenderprenuers as opposed to build a developmental state. Outsourcing really undermines the capacity of the state to deliver service to our people hence there are a number of “bogus” and illegal institutions claiming to be providing nursing BUILDING STRONG WORKPLACE ORGANISATION, CLASS CONSCIOUSNESS AND INTERNATIONALISM NEHAWU Nurses’ Forum Bulletin 03 October 2014 | www.nehawu.org.za education and training with being approved by SANC. A “remuneration system that will keep good nurses at the bedside without removing them into management” would be of great value to the health care sector, he said. The President ended his address by indicating that most nurses in South Africa have put their hope in NEHAWU in order to change their working conditions and better their lives, we dare not to fail them. The meeting of the 11th July received the reports on the international nurse’s day celebration, progress on the full time release of the nurse’s forum coordinators, South African Nursing Council, bargaining matters and after deliberations concluded as follows; • 04 Branch, regional and provincial nurses’ forum meetings must be convened to receive reports and obtain mandates on bargaining related matters affecting nurses. These include: • Reviewing the Occupation Specific Dispensation (OSD). • Recovering overpayment of the OSD, and confirming how many nurses are affected by this. • Review of the rural allowance. • Recognition of improved qualifications. • Engaging with the national Nursing Strategy, with specific reference to mandatory white uniforms, Continuing Professional Development (CPD), recruitment and retention plan for nurses. • Nurses’ Forums must be launched in outstanding branches and regions. • Nurses’ Forums are to be convened quarterly, and the work of the forum must be linked with the public health sectoral bargaining forum and provincial bargaining chambers. • The outstanding release of the provincial Nurses’ Forum coordinators must be finalised. • Provincial Nurse’s Forum workshops must be convened to discuss: NEHAWU Nurses’ Forum Bulletin • Induction on the roles and responsibilities of Nurses’ Forum coordinators and their relationship to organisers and PHOSECs. • The role of nurses in the NHI Pilot districts. • A database of nurses at all levels must be developed. • The recruitment plan targeting students and staff at nursing colleges should be implemented. • Strategic and progressive union members who will collaborate on the transformation of the South African Nursing Council (SANC) must be identified. • International Nurses’ Day must be celebrated on 12 May each year. The forum finally elected comrade Ndoyisile Sekwati as the national nurse’s co-ordinator. Comrade Sekwati was the provincial co-ordinator of the Western Cape Province. He was born in Smithfield in Free State. He completed his Nursing Diploma (General, Community, and Psychiatry) at Free State School of Nursing where he was SRC President as well as Provincial Secretary of South African Student Nurses Organisation. For a period he acted as General Secretary of SASNO. Comrade Ndoyisile joined NEHAWU whilst he was a Student Nurses Forum Coordinator in Free State. He is currently employed at Alexandra Hospital in Cape Town. * BUILDING STRONG WORKPLACE ORGANISATION, CLASS CONSCIOUSNESS AND INTERNATIONALISM October 2014 | www.nehawu.org.za NEHAWU Nurses’ Forum Bulletin BUILDING STRONG WORKPLACE ORGANISATION, CLASS CONSCIOUSNESS AND INTERNATIONALISM October 2014 | www.nehawu.org.za BUILDING STRONG WORKPLACE ORGANISATION, CLASS CONSCIOUSNESS AND INTERNATIONALISM NEHAWU Nurses’ Forum Bulletin October 2014 | www.nehawu.org.za Issued by: NEHAWU Communications Tel:- 011 833 2902 | Email:- [email protected] | Website:- www.nehawu.org.za Add your union as a friend on Follow your union on Facebook Twitter NEHAWU Nurses’ Forum Bulletin BUILDING STRONG WORKPLACE ORGANISATION, CLASS CONSCIOUSNESS AND INTERNATIONALISM
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