The Office of Health Standards Compliance (OHSC) staff will picket outside their Arcadia, Pretoria, office on Tuesday between 1pm and and 2pm
The OHSC is the Health Department’s agency that conducts compliance inspections at medical facilities to assess compliance with national standards and guidelines.
In an interview with Sunday World on Tuesday, an OHSC employee who wished to remain anonymous stated that the picket was organised by the employees to voice their displeasure and disapproval of the entity’s board decision to move them from their Prinshof, Arcadia, office to a new building in Centurion.
According to her, the workers will picket outside their Arcadia workplace every weekday during lunch from June 17 until June 30.
Allegations of tender irregularities
She said they intend to march to the office of Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi in Pretoria on July 4 if the OHSC’s management does not comply with the workers’ demands.
According to her, the OHSC board had selected Centurion as the site and had started the process of issuing a tender to locate a new structure for its staff to work in.
“There is nothing wrong with the building in Pretoria. Our current building is not located in the Pretoria CBD. We are safe from crime and thuggery,” she said.
“Numerous tender irregularities occurred when the board decided to relocate our workplace to Centurion. We are an angry bunch of employees complaining about tender manipulation.”
According to her, OHSC staff and the general public will suffer financially as a result of the relocation to Centurion.
“The board wants to relocate 80% of the employees and relocate the remaining 20% of the employees at a later stage.
“Most of the employees currently live in Mabopane, Soshanguve, Ga-Rankuwa, Hammanskraal and Pretoria CBD. It is financially affordable for them to commute from their homes around Pretoria to work.
“If the workplace relocates to Centurion, it will be expensive and costly for the employees to travel from their homes to work. Public transport expenses will be too much.”
Promoting health, safety of patients
She went on to say that their current location, which is a 15-minute walk from their offices, is practical and appropriate for the general public who visit Steve Biko Academic Hospital.
“Steve Biko Academic Hospital is close to our offices. When members of the public or patients have a problem or encounter an issue with Steve Biko Academic Hospital, they can simply walk to our offices to register their complaints.
“They will not be able to do this when our offices are in Centurion.”
The OHSC is an independent organisation created by the National Health Amendment Act (No. 12 of 2013) to promote and safeguard the health and safety of healthcare service users, or patients, in order to guarantee quality and safety in healthcare.
The OHSC safeguards and promotes the health and safety of patients receiving healthcare services by keeping an eye on and enforcing adherence to the national health system’s standards and norms by health establishments and making sure that complaints of non-compliance are considered, looked into, and resolved in a timely, cost-effective, and equitable manner.
