Over 800 plus Doctors and Nurses at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital will be jobless by the end of March. A peaceful march was conducted within the premises of the hospital, with doctors and saying they cannot afford to be without jobs.

These doctors were hired by the Gauteng Health Department to specifically assist with Covid-19 patients, and now government say it does not have the money to renew contracts of the 800 plus hospital personnel who were hired temporary. The none renewal of contracts are the results of budget cuts, which did not include finances for temporary medical staff members.

The hospital is already short staffed and under resourced, getting rid of these doctors will put a burden on the permanent staff as the protestors put it.

Wits Dean of Health Faculty said, “the entire department of health in Gauteng needs to be removed to the scene because its unable and incapable of managing the faculties currently under its ownership.”

In a statement, the Gauteng health department says budget cuts are to blame and that the department can not afford to keep the recruits. Recruited doctors say their services are really needed at Baragwanath. Already before hiring of the 800 doctors the staff at the Baragwanath were not coping and that’s where they came in, as they were really assisting, alleviating the pressure that comes with working at this critical hospital.