Government hospitals ordered to recruit fired nurses’ replacements
$17 million package reserved for faithful nurses
THE Ministry of Health and Child Care has ordered chief executive officers at Government hospitals and provincial medical directors to recruit nurses and replace those that were fired by Vice President General Constantino Chiwenga (Retired) on Tuesday.
The nurses were dismissed after they refused to go back to work even though their employer had acceded to their demands and availed over $17 million.
The ministry advised the hospitals to recruit a maximum of 30 nurses at central hospitals, 20 at provincial hospitals, 15 at district hospitals, five at rural hospitals and one or two at rural health centres and clinics.
The ministry yesterday gave hospitals the green light to recruit nurses with effect from yesterday.
“Reference is made to the press statement by the VP Chiwenga on April 17, 2018. You are requested to recruit nurses to cover the gaps created by the nurses who were summarily discharged.
“Please, ensure that your relevant teams are in place to facilitate the recruitment and assumption of duty with effect from April 18, 2018 by retired and unemployed nurses,” the ministry said in a statement.
The Health Services Board (HSB) also issued a statement yesterday urgently inviting applications from qualified unemployed registered general nurses, primary care nurses and retired nurses below the age of 70 to fill nursing posts in the health service.
“In the interim, all members who are on vacation leave, annual leave and nights off are instructed to report for duty with immediate effect.
“Interested applicants should submit their applications to their nearest central and provincial hospitals and the provincial medical directorate offices with immediate effect,” said the HSB in the statement. PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa has directed the Ministry of Health and Child Care to pay nurses who did not participate in the recent strike action benefits already agreed by Government under a $17 million pay review package released this week.
He also ordered that nurses who heeded Government’s call to return to work be awarded the same benefits.
On nurses who realised the full implications of their industrial action and want to re-join the service, President Mnangagwa directed the ministry “to follow procedures to re-engage them as appropriate and their terms be considered on a case by case basis”.
The President also advised the public workforce in general that Government was fully aware of their plight and the need for better conditions of service. He, however, said they must be wary of political incitement and getting entangled in the party agendas of those seeking to derail Government efforts to revive the economy.
President Mnangagwa conveyed his position yesterday through the Presidential spokesman and Secretary for Information, Media and Broadcasting
However, in statement yesterday the Zimbabwe Nurses’ Association (Zina) advised
a Services, Mr George Charamba. “Government has been watching closely the situation in all our (public) hospitals and it has become clear to us that the situation can be summarised as follows: there are nurses who never left their posts. The President applauds their actions and has directed that these be rewarded benefits already agreed to by Government and towards which $17,1 million was released. We have nurses who heeded Government’s call to return to work after an agreement had been reached. These too have received the President’s praise for their reasonable conduct and as with the first group, the President has directed that they too be made to access the agreed benefits,” said Cde Charamba. He added: “We have the third category of nurses who, upon realising the consequences of continued defiance both to themselves and the nation, have since revised their position. These have indicated their wish to re-join the service. The President has directed that the Ministry of Health and Child Care follows procedures to re-engage them as appropriate and their terms be considered on a case by case basis.” Cde Charamba said President Mnangagwa instructed the Ministry of Health and Child Care to proceed with
its members that the strike would continue despite the threats from the Government. the recruitment exercise of unemployed nurses and those about to complete their training as well as recalling those in retirement who were still able and willing to serve.
There was, however, a limit to the number of nurses who went on strike the Government could re-engage to avoid overstaffing. “The President has further expressed his deep compassion for patients who have been caught in this labour unrest and whose escalation, especially after Government had conceded to the nurses’ demands, became needless. He has a message for the general workforce in the country that whilst Government recognises their current plight and the need to improve their conditions (of service), care must be taken against political incitement to trigger a wave of strikes on the mistaken belief that Government will succumb to blackmail,” said Mr Charamba.
The President warned against unreasonable wage demands as these harm the economy which Government is working to turn around.
“Government is working extra hard to recover and improve the economy so as to benefit the employees sustainably. Unreasonable wage demands, or worse, obdurate industrial action will hurt this recovery process which the new Government is determined to see through without undue hindrance. The President appealed to humane leaders to act responsibly and in a mature manner bearing in mind that their unions can only grow in an expanding economy,” said Mr Charamba.
“Zina has taken note of the Press statement currently circulating on media platforms where Government alleges to have fired all striking nurses. We would want to urge our members to remain calm during these times.
“The position as already submitted to Government on behalf of Zina’s suffering members remains the same. As a result we advise all nurses that nothing has changed thus far with regards to the industrial action which is ongoing,” said the association.
The association’s secretary general, Mr Enock Dongo, said they had not received the latest development from the ministry.
“We’re only seeing the letter on social media platforms and we’ve not been officially informed about the developments. Even the nurses are yet to be served with the dismissal letters.
“The nurses have not reported for work because their demands have not been met and they were fired. We submitted our demands to the Government and if this is how they choose to handle our issues so be it,” said Mr Dongo.
He said the association would take the matter to court, adding that the $17 million being referred to was what the nurses are owed by the Government. The Government has not even deposited the allowances into the nurses’ accounts.
“The truth is that they are ignoring our issues. The $17 million is the total amount of arrears in allowances that the nurses are owed by the Government.
“We’re not fighting the Government and there’s nothing political about our communication with the Government. We simply want our concerns to be attended to and I believe we have the right to speak out,” said Mr Dongo.
Some departments at hospitals in Bulawayo are still closed as nurses have decided to continue with the strike.
VP Chiwenga in his capacity as the supervisor of the social services cluster condemned the behaviour of the nurses, saying their behaviour was politically motivated.
He said Government released and transferred a sum of $17 114 446 into the account of the Ministry of Health and Child Care for on-payment to the striking nurses.—@ pamelashumba1.