The non-payment of salaries since June to staff members of the Helen Bishop Home in Kimberley resulted in most of them not going to work, which left the constant care and assistance of the 60 children with severe disabilities in the hands of a few staff members and volunteers.
The few willing hands had to feed the children three times a day, change diapers, move them onto and off their beds, change the bedding, tend to the heap of daily laundry, including the cloth diapers, move them in their wheelchairs, prepare meals, wash the children and clean the home.
Of the 60 children, 11 are fed through a pipe in the stomach (percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy), while 12 can feed themself. The other 37 need to be fed. A night-shift is also needed as the children need care and assistance 24 hours a day.
The children (most with cerebral palsy, and also spina bifida) cannot be sent home, as many were placed in the Helen Bishop Orthopaedic Aftercare Home after a reference from welfare workers, or doctors and clinics as their families do not have the ability or means to look after them.
The non-payment of staff was a result of the monthly subsidy from the Northern Cape Department of Health (DOH) to this non-profitable organisation (NPO) not being paid since May, with the payment being stopped without warning. At a recent meeting with the DOH a senior official apparently said, “Helen Bishop Home did nothing wrong. We, the Department of Health, failed you.”
A memorandum of understanding (MOU) has existed between the home and DOH for many years, and due to this the department monthly pays a subsidy for staff support and administrative needs. Helen Bishop also gets a subsidy from the Department of Social Development (DSD) for the children.
On 13 November, correspondence was sent to the DOH, extending an invitation to meet with the new management committee to improve relations, and to get a better understanding of what was expected of Helen Bishop as an NPO benefitting from the subsidy. It was also stated that the MOU was to expire in March.
A subsidy increase was requested to assist the staff with salary raises. Previously, the subsidy was not enough, and private funds had to be used to fill the gap, Chrissie Damon, manager at Helen Bishop, explains.
In February, the DOH was informed that no feedback was yet received, with information regarding the above, salary scales and the appointment of a registered nurse still awaiting. In May, the subsidy was not paid, as was the case for June and July.
In May, Helen Bishop was able to pay the staff with other available funds, which was not the case in June and July.
Only on 18 July, eight months after the initial correspondence on the MOU was sent, were board members invited for a meeting where the DOH undertook to make a subsidy payment for six months – for the three outstanding months and an extra three months. The DOH gave Helen Bishop six months to meet their demands, which were the opening of a separate banking account into which the subsidy can be paid, and to appoint a registered nurse. Since last year, a registered nurse was not available at Helen Bishop.
A bank account was opened, and interviews arranged with four candidates to appoint a registered nurse. However, the DOH could not provide a salary scale for the post.
Shortly after this meeting, the DOH offered an interim MOU to Helen Bishop, where a cut of around 30%, instead of an increase, was offered on the subsidy. Also, the DOH indicated which staff members must get what portion of the subsidy calculated on a basic salary.
Continuing on p. 2.
