Fort England CEO has to be reinstated

Constitutional Court refuses application for leave to appeal

The Eastern Cape health department will have to reinstate former Fort England psychiatric hospital CEO Dr Roger Walsh and back pay him three years’ salary and benefits after the Constitutional Court refused the department’s application for leave to appeal.

The department sought to appeal against a scathing Labour Appeal Court (LAC) judgment in April this year ordering Walsh’s reinstatement backdated to October 2018.

In the LAC judgment, judge Dennis Davis, with two other judges concurring, accused the department of caving in to “thuggish” unions that had resorted to illegal and violent means to oust Walsh.

The department sought to transfer an unwilling Walsh to another position in Bhisho while acknowledging that he had done nothing to deserve it.

Walsh refused to take up the post and successfully challenged his transfer.

Three years later, the highest court in the land declined hearing the department’s appeal, ruling it had no reasonable prospect of success.

Since Walsh’s departure, the once highly respected psychiatric facility, which is also an essential cog in the criminal justice system, has literally fallen apart, with all but one of its forensic and other psychiatrists resigning and leaving for greener pastures.

When Walsh was appointed in 2012, he clamped down on absenteeism and staff abuse of overtime and leave, and put a stop to employees running their private businesses from the hospital.

Union members responded with staff revolts, wildcat strikes, unlawful pickets, and violence, including the assault of Walsh himself.

An internal investigation by an independent labour analyst cleared Walsh of any wrongdoing, and found his management style was by-the-book.

Despite this, the department caved in to union pressure and removed him from his post.

Davis said the unions “behaved disgracefully, effectively took the law into their own hands” and compromised the interest of vulnerable patients.

He said it had acted egregiously by trying to transfer the CEO, rather than “dealing with the sustained illegality at a facility under its control”.

Fort England was once considered the province’s leading psychiatric institution and is the only one offering a national maximum-security unit with the responsibility of managing some of the most dangerous state patients in the country.

It is also the only hospital in the province that assesses awaiting-trial prisoners accused of serious violence who have been referred by the courts for 30-day observation periods.

Walsh yesterday confirmed he was waiting for the health department’s instruction to return to work.

His lawyers, Borman & Botha attorneys, had already written to the department’s lawyers asking when Walsh could return to duty, as he was ready to do so with immediate effect.

But, despite Walsh’s challenge to his effective dismissal, the department has already appointed another full time CEO.

After the Constitutional Court’s refusal to grant the department leave to appeal, the department is now obliged to pay him salary and benefits backdated to October 2018, regardless of when he is permitted to return.

Provincial health superintendent-general Dr Rolene Wagner said: “The department has taken note of the Concourt decision and will, accordingly, study the judgment and it’s implications. This will be followed by engagement with Dr Walsh, to chart the way forward. We reiterate our respect for court decisions, and we will endeavor to implement such outcomes in line with legal advice.”