Health sector grinds to a halt as Zim nurses join striking doctors

The nurses, who went on strike Tuesday, are also calling on the cash-strapped government to honour its pledge of paying last year’s bonuses as promised.

The latest strike puts pressure on government, the biggest employer in the country, as the health sector has been sacrificed, after doctors went on strike mid-February, calling for improved working conditions, salaries and on-call allowances.

Zimbabwe Nurses Association secretary-general Enoch Dongo said they had since written to government demanding specific bonus payment dates.

He confirmed they had downed tools to push government into committing itself to their grievances.

“We cannot handle patients well when our morale is low,” Dongo said.

“So we decided that the nurses, who are not psychologically prepared to do their jobs, should stay at home to avoid making mistakes that could put patient’s lives in danger.”

Junior doctors, two weeks ago, embarked on a strike, accusing their employer of turning a blind eye to their concerns.

Gynaecologists and obstetricians also joined in the strike before senior doctors also downed tools.

On Wednesday, Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors’ Association president, Edgar Munatsi, said government medical officers “will not be able to discharge their duties from March 1 2016 until further notice”.

He said: “Our members are overwhelmed with working with little to no resources. The situation is no longer [tenable] for them and the patients.”

Last week, health secretary Gerald Gwinji said following the job action, they had deployed doctors from the uniformed forces to various hospitals to reduce pressure piled on the public medical institutions.

He said the hospitals were already struggling with drug and staffing shortages, as well as under-funding from Treasury.

Most hospitals are now attending to “dire” situations only.

The strike by those in the health sector comes as teachers have also threatened industrial action starting March 6 over last year’s bonuses.

Government is currently in talks with civil servant trade unions, offering to give the workers either residential stands, a cash stipend coupled with non-monetary value or property investment bonds as payment for the bonuses.

But the unions have turned down the offers, saying they would rather be paid in cash.

The government has failed to pay its employees on time for the past two years.

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