Pretoria - Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi exacerbated an already explosive situation by saying patients deserved better than the “devils in white”, referring to nurses in public health care facilities.
The minister allegedly uttered these words during an International Nurses Day event last Thursday in Seshego, Limpopo.
Motsoaledi is said to have labelled public health practitioners as uncaring. He said this was resulting in an increase in the number of nurses attacked by community members and patients.
Patients deserved compassion and love, warm smiles and soothing hands when they went to health facilities, he added.
Motsoaledi told hundreds of nurses they should not reduce patients to people who were just collecting medication and wanting injections. He encouraged them to fix their attitude or face the wrath of the law as the new Health Ombudsman would be looking out for the ill-treatment of patients.
But nurses did not take kindly to this and accused the minister of giving an impression that he hated them, which they said could fuel the hatred of nurses by society.
“We condemn the reckless usage of such words,” Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (Denosa) spokesman Sibongiseni Delihlazo said.
The use of the words characterised nurses as devils, he said.
“We feel it is irresponsible for anyone bestowed with executive authority to use such words.”
Motsoaledi’s spokesman Joe Maila said the public’s take on the minister’s speech was unfortunate and misleading.
“The minister did not call nurses devils,” he said.
“He only called for nursing to be taken seriously. He said nursing was the backbone of the healthcare system and needed to reclaim its standing in society.”
Maila said that what Motsoaledi meant was that patients wanted to be attended by angels in white uniforms. He added that people were deliberately trying to mislead the nation.
“The minister did not taint nurses’ image, but hailed them as heroes and angels in white.”
In the months leading up to Nurses Day, Denosa members said they feared being attacked and threatened to derail public health system if the incidents continued.
“The lack of security leads to countless attacks and if there is no urgent improvement we will withdraw nurses from facilities under threat,” Delihlazo said.
Young Nurses Indaba spokesman Lebogang Phehla said they already feared being robbed, raped and killed. Motsoaledi’s words would turn patients against the nurses, Phehla added.
The country has been hit by an exodus of healthcare professionals in recent years, with nurses heading overseas in pursuit of better pay and improved working conditions. Nurses said irresponsible statements such as that of Motsoaledi would only worsen things.
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Pretoria News