GOVERNMENT has condemned the demonstrations held by nurses at Sally Mugabe Central Hospital saying the job action was illegal since the grievances they raised were already being addressed.
Nurses at Sally Mugabe Central Hospital recently downed tools protesting deteriorating working conditions, paralysing operations at one of Zimbabwe’s largest referral hospitals.
The nurses last week gave management of the hospital a two-week ultimatum to address their concerns.
The healthcare workers raised alarm over lack of basic amenities such as electricity and running water, which they say are compromising both their ability to work and the provision of care to patients.
The nurses expressed frustration over government’s failure to address issues that have plagued the healthcare system for years, describing the situation as untenable.
However, addressing legislators in Parliament last week, Health and Child Care minister Douglas Mombeshora said the nurses' primary complaint was centred on alleged shortages of essential medicines and supplies, particularly syringes. He said the national medicine stock levels currently stood at 49%, with a target to reach 60% by year end.
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“The problem that we saw of those who were demonstrating at Sally Mugabe Hospital has nothing to do with that system. It is all about their thoughts. They were complaining about the lack of stocks of medicines,” Mombeshora
said.
“Of course, the stock levels may be low but right now the stock levels are at 49%, we are not happy with it but this year our target is 60%. We want to increase the levels gradually but we cannot do it immediately.”
He revealed that the alleged shortage of syringes was unfounded, as they were available in pharmacies, adding that he saw them when he visited the hospital during the strike.
“What surprised me is that when I went to Sally Mugabe Hospital on Monday when they were demonstrating, most of the things they were talking about were things that they knew were being looked into.
“Some of the things they complained about are syringes. We went to pharmacies and saw the syringes. So, we now do not know whether they were demonstrating because of a lack of syringes or they were doing it for something else.
“What they did was illegal because they were supposed to give us two weeks in advance before they started demonstrating. We told them to come and talk to us in time so that things may be worked out, we want to ensure that the health of our people is safe.”
Mombeshora, however, acknowledged the challenges faced by the ministry in procuring medicines citing delays in budget allocations and manufacturing lead times.
“As we speak, we have 14 containers of medicines being loaded in Mutare. We face challenges as a ministry when we are not allocated budget funds on time to procure medicines. We are discussing with the Ministry of Finance and the medicines that we are receiving now were ordered in December.
“If we order a lot of medicine, it takes time for the medicine to be made or manufactured because if the demand is high, sometimes they run out of stock, so they have to manufacture upon demand,” he said.
