Share

Two sides to private hospital care

Cape Town - The focus in the debate on the reasons for the high cost of private hospital care has shifted to the conditions and behaviour of staff at these hospitals.

Fin24 users have provided different views on their experiences of private hospital care.

On the one hand there is a Fin24 user who agrees with the view that nursing staff at private hospitals are not paid well. He writes:

Yes, private hospitals pay much less. I know, because my wife works at a private hospital on the South Coast of KZN. The staff members are treated badly and paid little.

READ: Why private healthcare is expensive

Fin24 user Sister N describes her difficult working conditions in a private hospital. She writes:

I've studied and worked in private healthcare for all of my nursing career.

You can never escape the continuous reminder that it is a business and profit needs to be made. It is a high turnover, production machine.

This always seems to become more evident when you're at a breaking point and feel burnt out.

When requesting leave it seems an inappropriate time because of workload that needs to be conquered and the lack of "appropriately skilled" staff to fill in while you're away.

Your unit functionality is your pride.

Hence you always find yourself either coming in from leave to work overtime to make extra cents or working extra shifts on your off day to ensure there's extra cents for the next week or month end - depending on the payment method.

But ultimately it is for the sake of your company functionality and pride.

We always hear how government workers' salaries and benefits are better. Maybe not so much their working conditions, although some have gotten used to these.

READ: Payment of private hospital staff questioned

On the other hand there is another Fin24 user who paints a different picture of ICU staff at a private hospital. She writes:

I often worked the night shift in a pathology lab. When we started drawing blood early in the morning at about 02:00, then the ICU nursing sisters are sitting there asleep.

We literally have to almost climb over them to turn on the light and then they are battling to wake up.

Why does one have to pay such high fees for staff who cannot even take care of you or your family in a hospital 90% of the time.

The excuse they give is that they are only lying on their arms.

At a well known private hospital they are battling with linen to such an extent that they do not even put clean linen on all the beds each day. Their linen service is contracted out.

The high ICU fees that people are paying per day are horrendous. Go and do some research on how many of the staff has experience. What you are, therefore, actually paying high fees for, are the machines.

ICU is supposedly there to take care of you, but go and see how many staff members take care of two patients. I mean, what are you then paying for?

ALSO READ: Plea for more generous medical fee negotiations

- Fin24

* Do you are or disagree with what these Fin24 users describe. Join the debate.

Disclaimer: All articles and letters published on MyFin24 have been independently written by members of the Fin24 community. The views of users published on Fin24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent those of Fin24.

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Rand - Dollar
18.89
+0.2%
Rand - Pound
23.87
+0.1%
Rand - Euro
20.39
+0.2%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.32
+0.1%
Rand - Yen
0.12
+0.1%
Platinum
908.05
0.0%
Palladium
1,014.94
0.0%
Gold
2,232.75
-0.0%
Silver
24.95
-0.1%
Brent Crude
87.00
+1.8%
Top 40
68,346
0.0%
All Share
74,536
0.0%
Resource 10
57,251
0.0%
Industrial 25
103,936
0.0%
Financial 15
16,502
0.0%
All JSE data delayed by at least 15 minutes Iress logo
Company Snapshot
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE
Government tenders

Find public sector tender opportunities in South Africa here.

Government tenders
This portal provides access to information on all tenders made by all public sector organisations in all spheres of government.
Browse tenders