Staff exodus in health sector slows down

THE number of health professionals leaving Zimbabwe to work in foreign countries marginally declined over the past year, as the public health sector lost about 1 300 workers, down from 1 900 a year earlier, the Health Service Commission (HSC) has said.

The slowdown has been attributed, in part, to efforts by the Government to improve working conditions and remuneration for healthcare professionals.

Stricter recruitment policies in receiving countries facing health worker shortages have also contributed to the drop.

Secretary to the HSC Dr Christopher Pasi told The Sunday Mail that the attrition rate across all staff categories decreased by 2,5 percent in 2023, compared to 7,4 percent in 2022.

Attrition rate is a measure that quantifies the rate at which employees depart an organisation, whether voluntarily or involuntarily.

“The overall attrition rate across all staff categories in 2023 was 4,9 percent (1 305 terminations), representing a decrease of 2,5 percent compared to the 7,4 percent (1 978 terminations) recorded in 2022,” said Dr Pasi.

“The staff categories with the highest attrition rates were radiography at 37,8 percent (62), laboratory and pathology services at 19,8 percent (105), pharmacy services at 14,9 percent (49) and doctors at 10,6 percent (184).”

The commission, he said, will continue recruiting more staff to fill new vacancies.

On March 11, the United Kingdom banned care workers from bringing their immediate family after more than 120 000 dependants accompanied 100 000 workers to the country last year.

Other jurisdictions are similarly tightening restrictions on immigration as well.

Public health expert and University of Zimbabwe lecturer Dr Johannes Marisa said the development was positive.

“As the Government takes proactive measures to improve working conditions and remuneration of health professionals, the hope is that the trend of the nursing exodus will continue to slow down,” he said.

“This will ensure the availability of qualified and dedicated personnel to provide essential healthcare services to the people of Zimbabwe.

“By addressing the workforce’s concerns, the Government hopes to create a stable and robust healthcare system that can meet the needs of the population.”

More than 4 000 health workers resigned from public institutions between January 2021 and November 2022.

Of this figure, 2 910 resigned in 2021, while 1 561 left their jobs between January and November in 2022.