ANÁLISIS DE FACTIBILIDAD

In 2010 during strike action by nurses, reports received by the Department of Health (South Africa 2010) suggested varying levels of disruption in hospitals, with some provinces reporting major disruptions and interference with operations in healthcare facilities. To add to the insight of findings gathered through the preceding phases of this study, the researcher explored healthcare consumers‘

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views on how they experienced healthcare services during the period of strikes, determined any threat to well-being that could have been directed to healthcare consumers during strikes as well as how they felt about the situation. The following section provides findings on the three areas.

i. Healthcare consumers’ access to healthcare services

The majority of concerns from the healthcare consumers focused on the lack of access to healthcare service followed by being inconvenienced, often quite badly. The major impact on healthcare was that many people could not access the care they needed from clinics and hospitals and they were, in fact, fearful of making use of public-healthcare facilities during the strike action by nurses.

“I was denied healthcare services during the strike. It was bad to see nurses involved in strike action and not being able to take care of patients’ health.”

“It was bad as the service was limited and poorer than usual. I had to wait for an hour for the ambulance.”

“When in labour, I was afraid to go to hospital and stayed home and went later, maybe when they dispersed.”

The findings highlight a need for nurse managers to strive towards adapting to the changing demands of the nursing profession and providing enabling measures that would create job satisfaction within the work environment as stipulated in the South African Nursing Act of 1978. If strike action by nurses is not effectively managed or discouraged, patients get affected regardless of the relief strategies employed during the strike action, rendering the health system not functioning optimally as intended (Eylert & Schinz [s.a.]).

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ii. Threat to well-being of healthcare consumers

When healthcare consumers related their experiences during strikes by nurses, the discussions indicated that the impact of the strikes on daily life was widespread and profound. The comments from the focus groups on the impact of the strike sketch a harsh picture of the life-and-death situations many in the country faced with regard to health and hospital care at an individual level.

“I was discharged with a baby, and at the gate there were nurses on strike throwing stones. It was a scary experience.”

“It was bad to see nurses involved in strike action and not being able to take care of patients’ health.”

“My child was critically ill at the time. I did not have money to take my child to a private doctor and the clinics were not working. I almost lost my baby.”

“There were patients that were very ill and sent to hospital and quite a lot of them died without any medical attention. That upset me because those are our fellow human beings.”

The health sector was one of the main sectors where the public was affected during strike periods by employees both in 2007 and 2010 (Schoeman 2012:8). In the light of healthcare services being key services and drivers of the population‘s perceptions regarding the government‘s overall performance (Government Communication and Information System 2013:17-18), the effect of the strike in this context was certainly compounded. Amongst the participants affected most by the strike action in the health- care sector were people without medical aid and relying on government healthcare services.

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kids in cars was scary. I could not afford private hospitals, and it was worrying.”

The strike and the hardship that the public faced undermines the positive progress made in the public-healthcare sector by the government since 1994. The study by Kunene (1995:29-30) also highlights similar issues on how the healthcare consumers were affected during strike action in Kwa-Zulu Natal. This study indicates that during strike action by nurses, the outcome is often patient neglect and an increased number of deaths in hospitals that proves contrary to the ethical code and nurses pledge in South Africa. Other consequences relate to the nurse- patient relationship in providing total healthcare and patient health deterioration due to delayed treatment during strike action.

Strike action by nurses is an undesirable resort to address grievances, especially in the public-health sector which demands attention of both unions and management to take responsibility for avoiding its occurrence (Rycroft & Jordaan 1990:206).

iii. Empathy towards nurses involved in strike action

The general public was more empathetic towards the strikers, with the majority being sympathisers but anti-strike. Others amongst the participants were actual strike supporters given the reasons for nurses‘ involvement in strike action. Whilst the general public sympathised with the strikers‘ cause, they were not, as a rule, in favour of strike action as a means to remedy worker grievances.

“I support them as they need money.”

“It affected the patients in a negative way but I also felt for the nurses who work so hard and do not get the salaries that they deserve.”

In a study conducted by Gyamfi (2011:3), a similar view of empathy by healthcare consumers towards the nurses that got involved in strike action is observed. This

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empathy was evident despite the negative impact that the strike had on their well- being. Other studies derive at similar conclusions, though caution is highlighted about the effect of media hype around mass mobilisation during strike action profiling nurses grievances (Dhai et al. 2011:58-60; Kowalchuk 2011:161; Ogunbanjo & Knapp van Bogaert 2009:307-308). Regardless of the media hype effect, academic research as with this study provides a platform to understand the true nature of participants‘ views and feelings.