Issued by: Gauteng Provincial Government
March 24 1997
TALKS ON THE STRUCTURAL TRANSFORMATION PLAN FOR GAUTENG HEALTH SERVICES
Representatives of the Gauteng Health Department and five trade unions met today to pursue consultations on the Structural Transformation Plan for public health services in the province.
The transformation plan, which proposed the closure of some hospitals and the conversion of others into community health centres, was made public by the Health Department in October last year. In November, the unions appointed members to a joint Employees' Research Team, which submitted a detailed response to the plan about four weeks ago.
Today's meeting was convened for the Department to indicate its reaction to the report of the Employees' Research Team. It became clear that the Department and the unions hold common positions on a number of important questions, but there are still areas of difference. Further talks will be held on Tuesday April 8 1997.
All parties to today's talks appreciate that there is a high degree of public interest in the final outcome, and particularly in the future of individual institutions. We hope to be in a position to release details of our talks after the meeting of April 8.
Released jointly by:
Gauteng Health Department Democratic Nurses Organisation of SA (Denosa) Hospital Personnel Association (Hospersa) Institute of Public Servants (IPS) National Health, Education and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu) Public Servants Association (PSA)
Queries (for clarification only): Jo-Anne Collinge (Gauteng Health Department) Tel: 355 3233 or 622 6027