Own Correspondent|SENIOR doctors have agreed to expand the emergency services mode in hospitals in a bid to ease the suffering masses.
In a statement, the Senior Doctors Association of Zimbabwe (SHDA) said the resolution was agreed on following an exercise they carried out early this year where they went through the hospitals together with hospital managers; to inspect and physically see the restocking that had been done as well as highlighting on the state of the hospital equipment in the central hospitals around the country.
Senior doctors, have been providing limited services and attending to emergency cases only since December.
The doctors’ return follows a meeting between the Senior Hospital Doctors Association (SHDA) executive and its constituency on Monday from which they agreed to return to work.
The executive had initially met with Acting President Constantino Chiwenga last Wednesday where the Government reportedly committed to deal with challenges bedevilling the health sector from a “holistic approach”.
This holistic approach requires provision and consistent supply of medical drugs and sundries, equipment, as well as better salaries for all health workers for a complete and functional healthcare system.
In recent months, the Government — through Natpharm (Pvt) Ltd and other partners — has been restocking the national drug and sundries requirements.
The Ministry of Health and Child Care set up a technical committee to coordinate the process of hospital equipment procurement.
In a statement released after Monday’s meeting, SHDA said following their assessment of the state of hospital equipment and national drugs restocking exercise, they resolved to upscale the level of services they will be providing to patients seeking treatment from public health institutions.
“On 15 January 2020, the SHDA executive met the Acting President Honourable CDGN Chiwenga and deliberated on the issues bedevilling the health delivery system of the nation. The Acting President expressed his commitment to a holistic approach to handling the situation.
“In a meeting of the members of the SHDA on 20 January 2020, members agreed to upscale from only offering emergency services to include urgent cases which could not be assisted all along based on assessments done by their executive,” said SHDA.
The association said its members’ decision was triggered by the need to ease the plight of patients.
SHDA expressed concern over the implementation of the nurses’ flexible working hours, which they claimed was compromising patient care, hence the need to only focus on “urgent and emergency” cases to limit on admissions.
The nurses’ flexible working hours are a Government directive allowing nurses to work long hours thrice a week from 7am to 7pm.
The normal nursing shift starts from 7am to 4pm for five days a week.