CHAOS erupted at the troubled KwaMashu Community Health Centre yesterday when protesting nurses demanded that a matron leave the centre.
The angry nurses abandoned patients and vowed they would only go back to work when the matron left the premises.
Some patients decided to leave, while others waited, hoping to get help.
But help wasn’t coming as nurses gathered outside their manager’s office, chanting revolutionary songs.
Cops kept the matron under guard in her office.
The nurses accused the matron of refusing to work with them, adding that the centre was currently running short of medicine because she refused to sign for it. One of the nurses told Daily Sun: “She’s a very difficult person to work with.
“She doesn’t care about our safety. Several nurses have been beaten by patients but nothing was done.
“We have addressed the matter with management but they don’t want to listen to us,” the nurse claimed.
She said this was not their first protest.
“We protested in April and they promised the matter would be sorted out but nothing has been done.”
KZN Department of Health spokesman Sam Mkhwanazi said: “The department has put in place contingency plans to mitigate any potential negative impact of this labour action on service delivery.”
Mkhwanazi said they would like to remind the striking nurses about the oaths they took upon graduation.
Attempts to get hold of the matron were unsuccessful.
