Dismissed emergency workers not given time to process missing documents: NUPSAW – SABC News

The National Union of Public Service and Allied Workers NUPSAW has expressed its disappointment at the Limpopo Department of Health’s decision to sack 21 ambulance staff. The department says the workers were dismissed after being deregistered by the Health Professionals Council of South Africa for failing to meet the required standards to remain active members of the council.

The union’s spokesperson, Risimati Tshabalala, says the department should have looked for alternative ways of dealing with the matter.

“We are also shocked and disappointed, I learned from the media statement that the department issued this morning, so we are disappointed that they have issued letters of resignation instead of looking at other options,” says Tshabalala.

The department employs a little more than 400 employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations. In addition to the 21 recently fired, 46 more are likely to be fired by Friday. They have been given until Friday to confirm their status with the Health Professionals Council of South Africa.

Tshabalala added that the Ministry of Emergency Situations officials were not given enough time to process the missing claims from the profiles.

“I don’t know anyone who has been told to upgrade on their own, but I know people who have taken the ILS, the AA course in 2019, when the Health Professionals Council of South Africa came, they found something that didn’t meet the requirements,” Tshabalala says. .

In response, the Department of Health’s deputy director-general for corporate services, Matome Mawasha, says the layoffs of 21 emergency services staff will not have a major impact on holiday season operations.

“The 21 are spread over different stations, it will be one at one station and two at another, so the impact will be minimal if any at all, maybe not even because we have the contingency plans that we have in place at during the festive period, we have been doing this for many years and it has proven to work very well,” Mawasha assures.

Meanwhile, a further 46 emergency services staff have been given until Friday this week to confirm their registration with the council or face dismissal. The department says it will continue to review the membership of health professionals who require registration with various regulatory bodies. It is also said that the recruitment of new workers is planned.