The Sunday Mail
Middle-level doctors at major referral hospitals countrywide have joined the strike by junior practitioners to press Government to review their salaries and benefits.
The doctors are also complaining of an increased workload precipitated by their juniors’ strike.
In a memo to all central hospitals, they — through the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors’ Association (ZHDA) —also accused authorities of not acting swiftly on the matter.
The memo is dated November 6, 2014 and lists Parirenyatwa, Harare, Chitungwiza, Mpilo and United Bulawayo hospitals among the affected institutions.
“Considering the current strike by housemen, we have seen it fit for us as middle-level doctors to withdraw our service with immediate effect,” reads the memo. “This is because the same issues affecting the striking doctors affect us even more and we are aggrieved by the lack of urgency by which it is being handled.”
Junior doctors went on strike two weeks ago, demanding a salary of US$1 200, up from US$282. They also want free accommodation, a US$180 medical allowance and duty-free vehicle importation.
Middle-level doctors earn US$30 more than their juniors on whom they rely to conduct most general consultations.
Senior practitioners – who joined the strike last Wednesday – earn around US$340 monthly.
The situation has been dire at some hospitals and Government has deployed uniformed forces to shore up staff requirements.
At Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals, senior doctors are attending to emergencies only while juniors are not reporting for duty.
When The Sunday Mail visited the hospital yesterday, some patients complained that nurses were only administering paracetamol tablets regardless of their ailments.
Harare Central Hospital doctors are attending to admitted patients early in the morning only. Patients in the hospital’s casualty department milled around awaiting assistance from nurses, while some sat forlornly in the car park.
Our Midlands correspondent Munyaradzi Musiiwa reports that Gweru General Hospital’s medical superintendent is the sole doctor on call. Other senior doctors are believed to be sending patients away from the hospital and thereafter referring them to their private surgeries for treatment.
In Chinhoyi, Walter Nyamukondiwa says the referral hospital is on “go-slow”. Doctors are pitching up, but not attending to patients.
In Bulawayo, Robin Muchetu reports that the situation appears normal at Mpilo and United Bulawayo (UBH) hospitals. UBH has 131 doctors, but only 57 are on strike.
Health and Child Care Deputy Minister Dr Paul Chimedza said: “District and provincial medical officers have been instructed to attend to all cases and only make referrals for critical cases which require emergency attention, thereby decongesting major hospitals.
“We have engaged medical doctors from the armed forces to fill in the gap. That is the situation on the ground at the moment while we are negotiating with the striking doctors.”
ZHDA president Mr Fortune Nyamande said the Health Services Board, which is responsible for the welfare of medical personnel, should be dissolved.
“We are negotiating from two fronts – with Government and the HSB. With the Government, we are negotiating for an urgent solution while with the HSB we are seeking long-term solutions.
“Salaries for junior doctors are not only insulting but also insane. How can we have a board that’s not doing its job effectively? We are appealing for a new HSB which is responsive to the concerns of the doctors.”
HSB executive director Ms Ruth Kaseke responded: “We have received their concerns and forwarded them to Government for consideration. We only wait to hear from Government.”
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