Zimbabwe’s health sector has been paralysed after senior doctors yesterday down tools saying they will not report to work unless their fired junior counterparts are re-instated with immediate effect.
Zimbabwe Senior Hospital Doctors Association declared their incapacitation in a letter addressed to Ministry of Health and Child Care permant secretary on Tuesday afternoon.
“We the SHDA met with our members on the 25th of Novemebr and we deliberated on the myriad of challenges currently befalling the medical fraternity.
“We have noted with grave concern the wanton dismissal of over 435 doctors, the continued summoning of doctors for displinary hearing and the withholding of the paltry salaries for the doctors.”
The SHDA said they had continued to engage the employer in dialogue while the hostilities on its membership was continuing unabted.
“Of note is these actions have not capacitated either the hospitals themselves or the human resource base. We regret to inform you that, the SHDA has agreed with its members who had remained behind offering emergency services to the hospitals that we are no longer able to offer any emergencies as from the 26th of November 2019, 14:00 hours until all the fired doctors are reinstated and there is adequate redressal ogf their incapacitation.
“Members also took note of the continued poor outcomes on the patients being attended to. Due to the above we will no longer be able to offer any services until the matters that we have raised are urgently addressed.”
Meanwhile, cabinet has proceded to fire other doctors making them 448 doctors out of the 598 appearing before disciplinary hearings for failure to report for duty at public hospitals.
