There are fears of a mass exodus of clinical staff after an unprecedented strike at Zithulele Hospital, in rural Eastern Cape, to keep a senior doctor in their hospital led to the suspension of seven staff members.

Listen to this article 7 min Listen to this article 7 min A decision to remove Dr Nick Fine, a family medicine specialist, from one of South Africa's iconic rural hospitals and send him to a large academic hospital in Mthatha has led to a debilitating strike that caused the shutdown of the hospital and the evacuation of patients to other facilities.

It has been two years since Zithulele Hospital, which became known as a well-functioning rural hospital under the leadership of Dr Karl le Roux, now a DA member of parliament, and Dr Ben Gaunt, was plunged into dysfunction after the appointment of new CEO Nolubabalo Fatyela.

After a stressful weekend when patients had to be evacuated to nearby hospitals as Zithulele faced a total shutdown, the Eastern Cape Department of Health obtained a court order to force staff to return to work.

As protests had shut down the hospital, patients were sent to Madwaleni, St Barnabas and St Lucy's hospitals.

advertisementDon't want to see this? Remove adsThe community has been advised to seek medical assistance from nearby hospitals such as Madwaleni and Mthatha Regional hospitals.

The protest was followed on Tuesday by the suspension of seven...