Maravi

It's unacceptable to have unskilled staff in clinics - NGOCC

It's unacceptable to have unskilled staff in clinics - NGOCC
By Kombe Chimpinde and Roy Habaalu
Thu 19 July 2012, 11:20 CAT

HEALTH minister Dr Joseph Kasonde says he is aware of the acute shortage of health workers in many rural clinics. But Non Governmental Organisation Coordinating Council chairperson Beatrice Grillo says it is unacceptable to have unskilled staff attending to patients in clinics after 48 years of independence.

Dr Kasonde, who was responding to a question from Pemba member of parliament Mutinta Mazoka who wanted to know why some clinics in her area were being manned by general workers, said the ministry would consider employing more health workers across the country. Mazoka said one health centre in her constituency had only one nurse who frequently travels to Lusaka.

In response, Dr Kasonde said the government was aware of the urgent need to recruit more trained and qualified health personnel for rural clinics.
"…The ministry is looking into that issue," said Dr Kasonde.
But Grillo said the government should improve working conditions to attract health personnel to work in rural areas.

…48 years after independence, it's unacceptable that we don't have qualified health personnel in rural clinics. In the meantime, we have money for by-elections…We need to set our priorities right and we have enough qualified people. If we give them proper incentives to go in these rural areas, most of these people who are qualified, they don't want to work in rural areas," Grillo said. "They would rather stay in town. In the olden days, rural hardship allowances made it easier for people to go there because there was something…That's what we need to pay attention to."

She also said there was need for the government to come up with an affirmative action plan that would help move qualified health personnel to rural hospitals and clinics.

"We are having casualties because people can't be attended to, especially women who go with complications. If there is no qualified personnel to attend to them and in most cases there is only one ambulance at a health centre, patients die unnecessarily. But that's what we have been saying," said Grillo. "The government should release resources to provide major services not only in rural areas but in all hospitals so that we can avoid a situation where we run rural clinics without qualified personnel."

Labels: HEALTHCARE, NGOCC

posted by MrK @ 3:57 PM