All doctors who signed resumption of duty forms have
started work at their respective work stations, with their seniors also
attending to emergency situations.
Although The Herald could not immediately establish the
exact number of doctors who have returned to work so far, a visit to
Parirenyatwa, Sally Mugabe (formerly Harare Central Hospital) and Chitungwiza
Hospital revealed that patients were being attended to.
Patients interviewed confirmed that they were being
assisted without waiting for long periods as was the case before the doctors
returned to work.
One of the patients who spoke to The Herald at Sally Mugabe
Central Hospital, Ms Patience Muza, said doctors had been serving patients
since morning.
“There was a doctor who was assisting patients since
morning and he is the one who also attended to me. Right now he has just
stepped out, maybe they are changing shifts or he has gone for lunch,” said Ms
Muza.
“We are pleased with the dedication and patriotism shown by
doctors at this hospital. Their dedication to work will help save peoples’
lives.”
Another patient who was receiving treatment at Parirenyatwa
Group of Hospitals for three days, Mrs Agnes Mahlangu said doctors had been
attending to patients during that period.
“I can testify that there were doctors attending to
patients in the past three days I have been coming here,” she said. Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals public relations officer Mr
Linos Dhire confirmed the return of all junior doctors.
“I can confirm that all the junior doctors have reported
for duty, and the senior doctors are covering emergencies only,” he said. Patients seeking treatment at Chitungwiza Central Hospital
however, expressed concern over long waiting periods before receiving
treatment.
“The hospital seems to be overwhelmed. Doctors are there
and they are offering assistance to patients but the patients seem to be too
many.
“We have been here since morning, but have not yet seen the
doctor,” said one of the patients. Chitungwiza Central Hospital chief executive officer Dr
Enock Mayida yesterday said the 20 doctors who had been fired were reporting
for work, joining 17 consultant doctors providing specialist services to the
hospital. The specialists never withdrew their labour.
“All doctors have reported for duty and service delivery is
back to normal,” said Dr Mayida.
“The only problem we are having is an influx of patients
because some institutions have not returned to normal service delivery as yet,
so you find that most patients are coming to this hospital for services.”
At Sally Mugabe Central Hospital, no official comment could
be obtained as the hospital’s chief executive, Dr Tinashe Dobbie, was not
available. Herald
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