Briefs Clean bill of health for nurses intake

THE e-recruitment system for trainee nurses has been successfully implemented by the Ministry of Health and Child Care with no complaints received so far from the first batch of students that were short listed through the system.

Plans are presently underway to use the innovation in all recruitments to training programmes administered by the ministry.

Health and Child Care Permanent Secretary Dr Agnes Mahomva said the e-recruitment system was targeted at eliminating the rot that was associated with enlisting nurses.

“The e-recruitment is not only introduced for ending cases of bribery, but promoting the ease of doing business in the ministry as well,” said Dr Mahomva.

“Since the commencement of the e-recruitment system, there have not been any cases of bribery reported to the ministry,” she said.

Under the old manual system, which allowed human contact, desperate applicants were reportedly forced to pay between US$ 500 and US$ 1000 to guarantee placements.

Dr Mahomva, however, noted that network challenges induced by power outages and failure by some applicants to follow stipulated instructions were some of the challenges encountered during the system’s first run.

“Applicants who wished to submit their details were able to do so, although with the challenges of connectivity as power cuts affected some networks.

“The system also rejected to proceed where must-fill responses were left blank or did not meet the set criteria. Those who attempted to apply after 30 August (2019) could not access the platform as it was configured to cut off at midnight on August 30,” she said.

The ministry, she added, would deal decisively with bribery allegations if they arose.