The National Kidney and Transplant Institute Employees Association-Alliance of health workers (NKTIEA-AHW) staged a silent protest on Saturday over alleged "worsening" health and working conditions of healthcare workers.
"Before the 5th State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Duterte, health workers from National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) a silent protest to demand for their safety and protection from deadly coronavirus disease," the protesting health workers said in a statement.
The association expressed its concern over the "appalling" health and working conditions of their fellow healthcare workers in NKTI. As of July 19, about 174 NTKI health workers have been infected with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
"The number of COVID-19 infections among health workers in NKTI is rapidly increasing. This is due to gross negligence by the management, DOH, and government authorities to ensure our protection and safety in the midst of our fight against this virulent disease," the statement added.
NKTIEA-AHW argued that infection prevention and control measures are not properly observed: "Quarantine protocols are not strictly implemented; there is no free swab test for all frontline hospital workers regularly. Worse, health workers are required to pay for their swab tests and charged to their PhilHealth."
Health workers resigning
Based on NKTI data, 65 health workers have already resigned from their posts while eight have retired.
Edwin Pacheco, President of NKTIEA-AHW said some workers are resigning due to excessive work hours.
"NKTI has been experiencing understaffing for a long time but it is getting worse now because many have resigned. Many of our fellow health workers are experiencing overfatigue due to excessive long hours of work, demoralization, psychological distress, stigma and fear of becoming infected," Pacheco lamented.
He added that 242 NKTI staff, including doctors and contractual health workers do not have hazard pay benefits, overtime pay, and sick leave pay benefits.
“We are anxious with our current situation especially to our fellow contractual health workers, our fight against COVID-19 is very risky and yet our fellow contractual health workers don’t have just benefits, additional compensation and lately their salaries are always delayed," Pacheco underscored.
The group likewise lamented that benefits under various issuances like the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act are "not given fairly to all health workers during pandemic."
Among the demands of protesting NKTI health workers include free mandatory and regular swab testing of all asymptomatic health workers, hiring of additional regular health workers, and the regularization of all contractual healthcare workers, among others.
“We lay down our lives to save the lives of our fellow countrymen. We therefore urge decision makers in government to heed our calls and address our needs in these trying times because like them, we also have families who depend on us to live a dignified life," Pacheco ended.