Implementation of the Occupational Specific Dispensation for Nurses, Pelonomi
Hospital, Bloemfontein
14 December 2007
It is a great pleasure for me to be here at Pelonomi Hospital to celebrate
with the nurses who have received an early Christmas present in form of
significant salary increases with back pays of up to six months. It has always
been our position as the Department of Health to work towards improving
remuneration and general working conditions of health workers in the public
health sector.
As a result of our engagement within government, an amount of R1,45 billion
was made available for adjustment of salaries of nurses this year. Based on
this budget, we signed with the unions a collective agreement to give effect to
the implementation of an occupational specific dispensation for nurses in
September 2007.
In this agreement, we agreed that there would be two phases to the salary
adjustments: Firstly it is the minimum adjustment in line with the Occupation
Specific Dispensation (OSD) and secondly, it is the re-calculation and
progression based on recognition of relevant experience which increases the
scope for career progression within the nursing profession.
As part of phase one, entry level salaries for staff nurses are being
increased by 20% while entry level salaries for nursing assistants and
professional nurses in general nursing have both been increased by 24%.
Professional Nurses entering the specialty dispensation for the first time
will, subject to meeting all the appointment requirements, receive a
significant translation from R85 000 per annum pre-OSD to R160 000 per annum on
implementation of the OSD.
This represents an increase of more than 80% and will go a long way in
redressing the past disparities and making nursing in the public health system
a career of choice. The huge salary increase in the specialty area is primarily
as a result of the incorporation of the earlier scarce skills allowance which
was paid to three categories of nurses in the specialty area, into salary.
Phase two of OSD salary adjustment will be based on the number of years of
relevant experience of nurses in the various categories.
Both these OSD salary adjustments represent an increase which is over and
above the 7,5% general salary adjustment reached following negotiations at the
end of the public service strike earlier this year. More importantly, these
increases will be affected retrospectively from 1 July 2007. The implementation
of this agreement is an enormous task as there are about 100 000 nurses
employed in the pubic service and for each of these employees a separate
translation transaction has to be approved. Most provinces also had to adjust
their nursing organisational structures to allow for the transition from the
old dispensation to the OSD.
Information on the phase one implementation status suggests that 70% of the
nurses had been paid by 11 December 2007. More than 70 000 electronic
transactions were captured by then onto the payroll and most of these nurses
have received their backdated pay. Provincial Health Departments are working
around the clock to ensure that the rest of the work is finished before the
Christmas holidays. We are want to ensure that all nurses employed by
government receive a Christmas present in form of backdated salary increases
following implementation of Phase one of the OSD.
In addition, most of the experienced nurses will receive further salary
adjustments as we intensify the implementation of phase two (which is
recognition of relevant experience) into early next year. We have to ensure
that the R1,45 billion available for salary adjustment is transferred to
qualifying nurses by the end of the current financial year (March 2008).
We believe that this new salary dispensation will allow us as the Department
of Health to compete better in the labour market and to even attract back to
our facilities those nurses who left the public health service in search for
better salaries. The benefits of these salary adjustments, together with the
start of community service for nurses in 2008, should make a significant
difference in alleviating the workload on the existing personnel. Most
importantly, it should improve the quality of services as the nurses form the
backbone of our health care delivery system.
I hope all the nurses that have received their hard earned money here at
Pelonomi Hospital and across the country appreciate the effort that the
Department of Health is making to improve their remuneration and conditions of
service, and to provide for better career progression options within the
nursing profession.
Let us continue to work together towards our common goal of a better health
for all.
Thank you.
Issued by: Ministry of Health
14 December 2007
Source: Ministry of Health (http://www.doh.gov.za)
