'State doesn't appreciate nurses'

Nurses face endless delays in being sent their practising certificates after paying their yearly fees and end up having to travel long distances to get the certificates in order to keep their jobs.

The frontline of South Africa's health system, nurses say the way they are treated by the SA Nursing Council shows that the government does not respect them.

The professional payment system is not yet online and the 220,000 nurses and 73,000 nursing assistants are expected to pay the fee through FNB and fax the proof of payment to the council's office. The certificate is then posted but many say it never arrives.

Nurses who do not receive their licence have to travel to Pretoria - the only nursing council office in the country - to get it.

Nomsa Hawker, who works in Saudi Arabia, flew into the country to pay in person last week.

"It is expensive but to save your job, you need to do it," she said.

"It is a pathetic situation.

"The South African government does not appreciate nurses [even though] we are the pillars of the health system."

Taking into consideration the number of nurses in the country as recorded on the council website and the yearly fees, The Times found that the council rakes in at least R120-million in fees a year.

At its offices last week, hundreds of nurses queued for their licences.

A woman collapsed while waiting in the queue on Thursday.

A nurse asked: "Where does the nursing council money go?"

One woman travelled from Mahikeng in North West to get her licence because she had been threatened with the loss of her job.

She had paid her fees in October but never received her certificate and was unable to reach the council on the phone. The Times made several calls to the council and the phone rang unanswered.

The council's chairman, Busisiwe Bhengu, said nurses did not need to fax proof of payment to her office.

But The Times has documentation from the council instructing nurses to do so.

Bhengu said nurses could find out if they were registered on the system using the electronic register, but many said they were required to have the hard document.

She said: "If [the nurses] pay in time, the council will not have to post their annual practising certificates during the busiest time for the Post Office."

She added that the council had held outreach days in all provinces making it easier for nurses to pay.