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Mpilo Hospital’s out patient department

Auxilia Katongomara Chronicle Reporter
MPILO Central Hospital in Bulawayo, one of the country’s largest referral health institutions, has closed its outpatients department citing a critical staff shortage as the stalemate between junior doctors and the Ministry of Health and Child Care rages on.

Junior doctors have refused to sign an agreement to be employed as contract workers.

They have petitioned the Health Service Board (HSB) to reverse the decision and vowed not to go to work until the issue is resolved.

The resultant manpower shortage has forced Mpilo Central hospital to attend to “critical cases” only.

The hospital caters mainly for the southern region which covers Bulawayo, Midlands, Masvingo, Matabeleland North and South provinces.

In a memo dated March 22 signed by the head of medicine, Dr M Ngwenya titled “Non Resumption of Duty by JRMO”, the department notified other departments of the closure of the outpatients department.

JRMOs are junior resident medical officers who are first year doctors covering medicine and surgery.

“I believe you’re aware of the ongoing impasse between the Health Services Board and the new crop of JRMOs over their contracts. The new doctors are supposed to have resumed their duties by now. The department of medicine has been affected by this and is left with no JRMOs since the current crop graduated to be SRMOs (second year doctors).

“This development has affected service delivery in the department. I’ve communicated this to the chief executive officer and clinical director who then sent communication that the HSB is working to resolve this issue as soon as they possibly can.”

Wrote Dr Ngwenya: “While this is happening we’ve taken the following measures as a department, MOPD (Medical outpatient department) will remain closed with immediate effect until the situation is resolved.

“Only critical and dire emergencies will be attended to and admitted by our HMOs who have been working flat out during this time”.

Sources at the hospital said the closure of the outpatients department could affect particularly patients with chronic ailments and referrals from other provinces.

“Outpatients are not really sick people but those with minor ailments that are treated and go back home but those with chronic ailments such as diabetes will be coming to refill their tablets and there will be no one to attend to them,” said the sources.

“A patient who is referred from Tsholotsho or Hwange and isn’t deemed critical has to return home because the hospital will only be treating critical patients. That’s a crisis on its own, sometimes these people will be needing care but they will not be treated.”

Mpilo Hospital Clinical Director Dr Solwayo Ngwenya confirmed the development but played down the effects of the strike.

“We had one doctor in the outpatients department and he said he was overwhelmed and we had to close the department but all other departments are working.

“It’s not a very big crisis, those with minor ailments can go to casualty and go home afterwards. Those that are very sick will be taken to the wards,” he said.

Dr Ngwenya said the crisis is countrywide as the junior doctors have refused to sign contracts.

“They just need to sign the contracts, government is waiting for them to sign and start working,” he said.