SWADNU disappointed by PM’s statement on nurses
MBABANE – The Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU) feels disappointed by Prime Minister Russel Mmiso Dlamini’s statement over the exodus of nurses from government hospitals to work in other countries.
SWADNU Secretary General (SG) Mayibongwe Masangane speaking on national radio yesterday said it was clear that the PM did not have a full understanding of how the health sector ran its operation.
Masangane decried that health specialists were the ones leaving the country in search of greener pastures, leaving the sector suffering.
He said from 2023 up to date, 168 nurses had left Eswatini for greener pastures in other countries, leaving a huge gap in the health sector.
Masangane said the PM’s assertions were showed that the health sector would continue to struggle, resulting in the departure of more nurses. He said foreign countries were only hiring nurses with vast experience.
“We are not happy about the way the prime minister spoke, as far the migration of nurses in the country is concerned. We are of the view that he did not go to the clinics and hospitals to check the current situation,” he alleged.
According to the SWADNU SG, the quality service at clinics and hospitals came as a result of having experienced and qualified nurses in every department, hence his dissatisfaction with the PM’s statement.
Furthermore, he said even after the departure of those health workers, government still took time to fill the empty vacancies, forcing the remaining staff to work extra hours.
On another note, Masangane mentioned that 447 nurses graduated in 2020 but are currently sitting at home, jobless.
Insufficient
He said this happens despite that the union always report to government about the insufficient health personnel in public health institutions.
“The number of qualified nurses sitting at home is huge, yet we always complain of being understaffed,” he explained.
He further lamented government’s tendency to open new departments within the health facilities but fail to provide staff.
“Government distorts how the health centres run their daily operations,” he explained. Masangane was responding to the PM’s statement, wherein he said the attrition of nurses could not be a cause for concern.
Dlamini said the cause for concern should be how fast they would train and develop nurses to replace those who were leaving.
Dlamini said the mentality that government must hire all nurses was shallow, hence there was a need for a change of mindset. The PM said they must embrace attrition in their strategies and plans.
Government Spokesperson Alpheous Nxumalo says he will not respond to SWADNU’s disappointment since the PM was not an entertainer.
Nxumalo said, as far as he was concerned, when he does something, he is not on any mission to hurt other people.
“Regarding the nurses’ discontentment of seeing an exodus of health workers to other countries, they must understand that we are now living in the global community. There is no way we can stop people from going to work in other countries if opportunities avail themselves. Even other countries are experiencing the same problem just like Eswatini,” Nxumalo said.
The government spokesperson also said as far as he understood, the PM said instead of lamenting about the exodus of nurses, let there be a change of mindset, which is that of producing more nurses with critical skills to offer help in health services to the public.
“We cannot stop qualified and experienced nurses from leaving the country for greener pastures if they have got that opportunity to do so,” he said.
Remarks
According to Nxumalo, the PM mentioned in his remarks that the training and development of nurses to replace those who were leaving was done at a high speed.
Regarding government’s delay in filling vacant positions even after nurses had left the country, the spokesperson said they had noted that concern.
He, however, said government did not receive such information on time resulting in delays in filling the vacant posts.
“Government must be informed on time about vacant positions,” he said.