The Eastern Cape Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa, DENOSA, is planning a march to the offices of the Eastern Cape health department in Bisho on the 18th of February, after learning there will be no nursing student intake by the government nursing college this year.
DENOSA Acting Provincial Secretary, Khaya Sodidi, said Lilitha Nursing College is supposed to Enroll 350 nursing students annually to ensure there is a constant supply of nurses into the health system.
Sodidi said DENOSA fears this will see the end of nursing as a career in the province in which the health department has been short staffed for the past 10 years.
He also added that the decision by the department happened after the 2016 intake candidates were interviewed and accepted to start training.
"These young people are now idling at home not knowing what the future holds for them" he said.
He said a zero intake was counter-productive to the national government's plans to revitilise nursing colleges in preparation for the re-engineering of primary heath care in line with the National Health Insurance.
"This situation is going to get worse that's what it means, the Eastern Cape people are just going to less quality nursing care.The burden of disease is going to increase and then we are going to be faced with a crises that the Eastern Cape department cannot render health services anymore" he said.
