Health workers axed for misconduct
Gauteng Health Dept said it has fired employees after they were found guilty of various trangressions at hospitals.
|||Johannesburg - The Gauteng Department of Health on Tuesday said it has fired four employees after they were found guilty of various transgressions at hospitals.
Spokesperson Steve Mabona said the fired workers were found guilty of theft, submission of fraudulent qualification and repeated absenteeism.
A nurse was dismissed for theft of hospital linen at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto, while an official at Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Pretoria stole money from the wallet of a visitor at the hospital. “A housekeeper at Tembisa Hospital was dismissed after submitting a fraudulent matric certificate while applying for a higher position at the hospital in 2014,” Mabona said.
“At Bheki Mlangeni district hospital a pharmacy assistant was dismissed for being absent from work without a valid reason and authorisation in 2014 and 2015. The official's absence compromised service delivery in the hospital's pharmacy.”
The Democratic Alliance in Gauteng said it welcomed the dismissal of the employees, but warned that government should not treat junior staff differently from senior employees. “I welcome the firing by the Gauteng Health Department of four health officials found guilty of various transgressions,” said DA MEC Jack Bloom. “They are junior staff, however, and my concern is that senior staff seem to get away with warnings instead of being fired for more serious transgressions. “For instance, four senior officials at the medical depot in Auckland Park got final warnings for serious procurement irregularities,”
“I think they got off lightly compared to the latest firings. The department needs to be consistent in its disciplinary sanctions and not give the impression that little fish are treated more harshly than big fish.”
African News Agency