THE chaos that was witnessed at Mpilo Central Hospital last
week after doctors downed tools in protest over the alleged disappearance of
Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association (ZHDA) acting president Dr Peter
Magombeyi has never been witnessed before, an official has said.
The doctors refused to work demanding that he be released
by his “abductors” and later nurses joined in, leaving the institution
virtually with no one to look after patients. Dr Magombeyi was however, found
on Friday in Nyabira, 30 kilometres from Harare. Mpilo Central Hospital
clinical director Dr Solwayo Ngwenya told Sunday News that it was a
heart-rending situation during the days.
“There were some disturbances that caused quite some
considerable chaos, we have not seen such chaos before at this hospital before.
The patients faced serious problems and their lives were in jeopardy,” he said.
Dr Ngwenya said at one time the nurses joined in the
demonstration and the whole hospital was deserted with just ailing patients in
their beds. There were however, no deaths recorded at Mpilo that were
attributed to the downing of tools by the nurses and doctors as manpower was
availed in the nick of time.
“We had to do quite extraordinary contingency measures to
contain the situation and to safeguard the patient’s lives by ensuring that
they access essential services as we were now facing a total collapse. The
measures we put really worked, we roped in the use of senior members of staff,
student nurses, student midwives and personnel from the Zimbabwe National Army,”
he said.
Dr Ngwenya also said the people who suffered the most were
people from the outpatient department because it was closed and still remains
closed up to this day.
The clinical director said another group of people that
suffered were those who were at home who could not come to the hospital on time
because they had heard that doctors had downed tools and may have died there.
He urged the Government and doctors to come to an agreement very soon because
patients have to access health care, which is their constitutional right.
Meanwhile, it has been revealed that Dr Magombeyi grew up
in Pelandaba in Bulawayo where his colleagues described him as a “man who loved
beer’.
Sunday News visited the place where colleagues said they
knew the Dr Magombeyi from his time when he was training at the National
University of Science and Technology. Sunday News
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