The Provincial Medical Director, Robert Mudyiradima, said some rural service centres were now manned by nurse aids instead of qualified nurses. The province should have 87 doctors but only 51 were available for a population of over 1,5 million people.
He also expressed concern that many wayward doctors spent most of their time at their own private surgeries and not at work, which he said had compromised the health delivery system.
His ministry is investigating all errant doctors and disciplinary action would be taken against those who abscond from work to attend to private business. He called on communities to complain whenever they see an errant doctor so that investigations can be made. Although government doctors are permitted to have their own surgeries they are not allowed to abandon patients at public hospitals in order to do their own private jobs.
Mudyiradima added that the situation was worsened by the fact that doctors can now choose where they want to be stationed – unlike in the past when they were allocated their stations by the parent ministry. This has resulted in most of them shunning rural areas, thereby compromising the health standards of thousands of villagers.
The government has also frozen the recruitment of new staff into the civil service arguing that it has no money to pay them. This has seen several nurses becoming redundant after completing their training.
Post published in: Health