Double trouble, Doctors down tools, Teachers threaten fresh protests

Now it is double trouble for  the Mnangagwa led government, senior Doctors at Parirenyatwa Hospital have downed their tools in protests against shortage of basic essential drugs and equipment while, the Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (Artuz) has resolved to embark on fresh protests to push for the reversal of deductions made on leave days for its members who participated in a recent job action.

In a letter to Health Minister Obadiah Moyo and copied to permanent secretary Gerald Gwinji as well as other senior officials, consultants at the hospital said they had, had enough.

In a letter to Health Minister Obadiah Moyo and copied to permanent secretary Gerald Gwinji as well as other senior officials, consultants at the hospital said they had, had enough.

“As the consultants of Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals, we have decided to rationalize use of the limited and very finite resources that are currently available.

“We are now forced with immediate effect to further scale down the services which we are offering, to deal with dire emergencies only until the situation normalizes,” said the doctors.

The letter added: “We feel that these compounding factors have compromised patient care, putting patients’ health and lives at risk at the very institution which is supposed to restore health and life.”

The doctors are also arguing that since the beginning of the year they have been unable to resume normal service, especially in the areas of anesthesia, surgery and critical care due to the constraints.

On the teachers’ side, Artuz president Obert Masaraure said the protests have been necessitated by the failure by the PSC to meet the March 4 deadline to reverse the government position on deducting leave days for 10 200 teachers who participated in past job strikes to push for better wages and working conditions.

“We agreed with the PSC to have the position on leave days that were deducted on 10 200 teachers, who participated in our past job action, to be reversed by March 4. Now that the PSC has failed to meet that deadline, we are going to protest at their district offices countrywide, starting on a date to be advised very soon. That was the resolution made at the March 10 Nec meeting of Artuz,” he said.