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| Dr Chonzi |
Patients on anti-retroviral treatment (ART) and those with
chronic diseases such as diabetes had to wait for long periods before getting
medication as available administrative staff tried to cope with the pressure.
City Health director Dr Prosper Chonzi said the
municipality might have to collapse other units, discharge patients who are
stable and consolidate services should the situation remain unchanged.
“We have to come up with strategies to minimise damage and
mitigate challenges,” he said.
“We might need to get all the sisters-in charge who are
currently reporting for duty to go to our 12 Polyclinics so that patients get
services there,”
Dr Chonzi said this could result in family health and
satellite clinics being closed until normal services resumed. “Our system is driven by nurses and in their absence we
have difficulties in offering normal service,” he said.
The nurses, through their representative body, the Zimbabwe
Urban and Rural Council Nurses Workers Union (ZURCNWU) said they had taken the
position in light of the current economic challenges.
The nurses demanded that their salaries of about $1 000 be
reviewed taking into account the prevailing interbank rate.
“We also want to bring it to your attention that your
failure to address our members’ issues coupled with this current increase in
the price of fuel and basic commodities has left them severely incapacitated
that they are now unable to report for duty,” read a statement signed by the
ZURCNWU executive committee.
The situation at government hospitals remained desperate,
with doctors vowing not to report for work as they await the final outcome of
their disciplinary hearings.
The Health Services Board and the Ministry of Health and
Child Care could not be reached to comment on the latest development, with some
officials saying they wanted to first update Cabinet on the state of
healthcare. Herald
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