Lift freeze on doctors’ recruitment, Govt urged
THE Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association (ZHDA) has petitioned the Government to consider lifting the freeze on recruitment of doctors and other health workers, as the current doctors are overwhelmed saying a single doctor is serving 250 000 people.
ZHDA national executive submitted a letter addressed to the Ministry’Permanent Secretary Dr Gerald Gwinji on Thursday, requesting the ministry to deliver on the issue of shortages in its 100 days plan.
They said the current situation where one doctor was serving 250 000 people was making life difficult to both doctors and patients alike and needed to be looked into with the urgency it deserves if there was going to be an improvement in the health delivery system.
In an interview yesterday, ZHDA president Dr Edgar Munatsi said they were waiting for the ministry to respond and expressed hope that their demands would be considered.
“We are still waiting for a response from the ministry and we hope they will consider some of our concerns as our doctors are overwhelmed,” he said.
The letter read: “We the patriotic doctors, working day and night in Zimbabwe Government hospitals convey the following as our minimum expectations on the new Government’s first 100 days in office of President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
“The blanket freeze for recruitment of doctors and other health workers must be urgently scrapped. Currently we have one doctor per 250 000 people.”
The doctors are also requesting that the Government increases their monthly salaries as per the 2014 agreement.
“The current pathetic on call allowance paid to doctors of $360 per month must be urgently revised upwards to $720 per month as per 2014 agreement. The vehicle of duty assisted framework agreed upon with the Health Services Board in 2017 must be urgently implemented. No doctor should have to resort to public transport when they rush to respond to medical emergencies and on call duty. ZHDA sincerely hopes the Government will deliver on the key demands within the 100-days plan, otherwise doctors will resort to industrial action for these issues to be resolved,” read the letter.