Govt, doctors agree on hospital improvements

wrong purchases.

Deputy Minister Mangwiro said he did not go to India to buy equipment, but was on a different mission.

He, however, ended up assisting because it was an emergency.

Dr Mangwiro said he contacted staff at the Zimbabwean Embassy in India and they identified the suppliers.

“I was given a list by Faith Muchemwa. The choice of the company was not mine, but was done by health and embassy officials. All I did was to carry the list. I did not buy or distribute the equipment.

“When the equipment came, the company sent its engineers who came and went back and they are expected to come back to commission the equipment,” he said.

Dr Moyo said the Government had started identifying accommodation for junior doctors.

“It was disappointing that junior doctors who lived at hospitals were also not going to work. We have discovered that there are some people who are not supposed to be stationed at the institutions. We have also identified flats that belong to NSSA and they are being refurbished. Six blocks have been identified.

“We have also put in place a facility for smaller vehicles for all our staff and this is awaiting approval,” he said.

The doctors expressed concern that some central hospitals had embarked on public private partnerships, but instead of improving service delivery, the arrangement had not ease the plight of patients.

Some of the interventions being made by the ministry include free meals for doctors on duty. We secured $20 million for the refurbishment of accommodation and infrastructure.

Dr Moyo said council clinics formed part of the broader health delivery care in Zimbabwe. Government cannot sit and watch while patients suffer, hence the move to capacitate the local clinics.

“It’s not every doctor who was on strike. Those who remained at work volunteered to help the clinics in treating patients, but only those needing emergency services.

“It should not be ignored that the health minister together with his counterparts made all the necessary efforts to capacitate the workforce and that is why the majority remained at work.

“Government can only capacitate its workers within its budgetary allocation,” he said.