The Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa in Eastern Cape is concerned that Eastern Cape health services are facing a bleak future after the department has stopped training nurses. DENOSA has learned with disbelief that there will be no intake of nursing students by the government nursing college, Lilitha Nursing College in 2016.

It has been a practice that, annually, the college will take about 350 new intakes for the nursing course. The annual intake of students ensures the constant supply of nurses into the health system. Every year, nurses are leaving the department through natural attrition and resignations for various reasons. When nurses leave the department, this leaves a big void. The annual intake ensures that these gaps will be closed.

DENOSA issued a media statement on 5 February 2016 that it will lead a nurses’ march to Bhisho to hand over a memorandum for the appalling working conditions and shortage of staff. The stoppage of annual intake is sending a strong signal that the provincial health services are heading for disaster. This irresponsible action by the Head of Department (HoD) is further depriving the people of Eastern Cape the quality nursing care that is already under severe strain. This recent development will form a strong part of our march.

What is worse is that this happens after the 2016 intake candidates were interviewed and accepted to start the training. These young people are now idling at home not knowing what the future holds for them.

DENOSA fears that this is the beginning of the end of nursing career in the province. The college tutors are also facing a bleak future because soon they will be told that they are redundant due to absence of training students. This is an insult to the profession. While we are crying foul about the shortage of staff, the department decides to stop the training of nurses.

This zero intake is also counter-productive to the undertaking by the national government to revitilise nursing colleges so that enough health professionals are produced in preparing the ground for the re-engineering of primary healthcare in line with the National Health Insurance (NHI).

DENOSA is mobilizing nurses, tutors, student nurses and community members to participate in the provincial march to Bhisho on 18 February 2016.

Issued by the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (DENOSA) Eastern Cape