Govt delays docs, health workers’ May salaries
By Ernest Chanda
Tue 22 June 2010, 13:50 CAT
THE government has delayed the payment of May salaries for most doctors and health workers on their pay- roll, Resident Doctors Association president Dr Crispin Moyo has disclosed.
Dr Moyo has since asked government to explain what has delayed May salaries for most health workers. In an interview, Dr Moyo expressed worry that the same situation had prevailed previously when doctors received their April salaries towards the end of May.
"We want to know why our May salaries have been delayed by three weeks now. The same situation happened where we got our April salaries towards the end of May, and the explanation from the government was that there was a problem with the pay roll which they were updating. Again the same situation has repeated itself, as I talk to you there are many health workers who have not been paid May salaries. It's not just doctors but other health workers as well. Could it be that the same pay roll problem has resurfaced?" Dr Moyo asked.
"Now, if the problem is with the new pay system, why can't the Ministry of Finance revert to the old system so that we get our salaries on time. They have always given us excuse of PMEC Payroll Management and Establishment Control. But now we are becoming suspicious that there could be something more serious than PMEC. May be there is no money for our salaries. We cannot rely on a system that is not working effectively. I think it's better to revert to the old system and pay us on time. And if they work on the new system that's when they can get back to it other than exposing us to this misery. People have to pay bills, rentals and various fees, but in a situation like this how do we survive?"
After the Mufumbwe parliamentary by-elections, April salaries for all civil servants were delayed by over three weeks.
And Secretary to the Cabinet Dr Joshua Kanganja at the time explained that there was a problem with the pay roll and promised that the problem would not resurface.
But the problem resurfaced during the May salaries which some civil servants got in the second week of May while others are still waiting.
Labels: CRISPIN MOYO, SALARIES
Read more...
Doctors to chart way forward today
Written by Masuzyo Chakwe and Charles Mangwato
Monday, June 15, 2009 3:06:11 PM
RESIDENT doctors will today meet to discuss the way forward on the strike following a meeting they had with Ministry of Health officials yesterday. Resident Doctors Association of Zambia (RDAZ) president Dr Crispin Moyo yesterday said the doctors' representatives had a 'productive meeting' with the health minister Kapembwa Simbao.
"We went through all the issues the doctors are complaining about. And tomorrow we are meeting to discuss with our members because today the meeting was just for the leaders," he said.
Dr Moyo said they were not given anything and would only be able to determine if the doctors would resume work after their meeting tomorrow.
Zambia Medical Association (ZMA) president Dr Maureen Chisembele said the way forward would be known after the leaders meet with the doctors today.
Most health institutions have remained closed following the strike.
And about half of the nurses who undertake night duties at Choma general hospital fall sick after completing their night shifts because of poor working environment.
Submitting to a visiting parliamentary committee on health, community development and social welfare chaired by Chikankanta UPND member of parliament Munji Haabenzu, district director of health Dr Rhoda Mkandawire said 50 per cent of the nurses were usually taken ill after completing their night shifts.
Dr Mkandawire said this was because the hospital wards had no proper ventilation resulting in nurses contracting diseases.
"The rate of sickness of nurses due to poor ventilation is quite high because of suffocation in the wards," she told the committee.
"Even myself as a medical doctor when I am doing rounds, I find it
extremely difficult because I have to come out of the ward for fresh air after seeing five patients and then go back again."
She explained that the institution was never designated as a hospital but a tobacco ban, hence the current unsuitable infrastructural setup, which did not befit a general hospital.
"If you look at the way the wards are arranged, you will see that the facilities were not meant for a hospital. The maternity ward is far away from the theatre and expectant mothers have to be wheeled in the open to the theatre in case of an emergence," she said.
Dr Mkandawire said several inspectors who had visited the institution had condemned the structures.
She said the district required a new hospital but raised concern at a decision to approve funding for a district hospital when the current status of the institution was that of a general hospital.
"Choma is centrally located and carters for surrounding districts and therefore to build a district hospital will be like reversing what we planned to achieved in the vision 2030. We need a new general hospital and not a district hospital because of the growing population and demand for health services," she said.
And also submitting to the committee, hospital acting manager for administration Frederick Katundu said the hospital needed about K 240 million to overhaul the run-down sewer system, which had been posing a major challenge.
Katundu said blockages due to worn out sewer pipe lines was causing serious sanitation challenges at the institution.
"Every so often, our toilets stop functioning because the system is too old and needs replacing," he said.
Katundu said while efforts by government were underway to build a new hospital, there was urgent need for funds to tackle the current sewer problems.
Choma UPND member of parliament George Chazangwe who commended medical personnel for doing their best and sacrificing to work under trying conditions, said a new general hospital must be built.
"Even when you want to build a chicken run, there is a proper way it is organised. This situation at Choma General Hospital where the infrastructure was that of a tobacco ban cannot be allowed to continue.
In Kabwe, a kitchen at Kabwe General Hospital has been gutted by fire.
Hospital executive director Dr Yotam Phiri yesterday confirmed that the kitchen had been completely gutted.
According to sources, fire started in the night but fortunately didn't affect the rest of the hospital.
Sources said one switch for the main cooker was left on after workers knocked off on Saturday and it is believed that was where the fire started.
"You can see that of these six switches on the main cooker, this one was left on for what ever reason and this is where the fire started," the sources said.
According to sources, fire started at about 02:00hrs yesterday and the fire brigade only managed to put if off two hours later because they were ill-equipped and had no water.
The source said this was the second time that the kitchen had been gutted except that yesterday's inferno was too devastating.
"You can see that the entire kitchen unit and equipment is destroyed and we cannot offer any catering services to patients any more. We are just lucky that the hospital is empty owing to the on-going strike otherwise we were going to have a crisis," said the sources.
The source said the fire was a wake up call on the government to act swiftly and reward workers accordingly.
"Who knows maybe somebody did this deliberately; which I strongly suspect. Government should take care of workers if such misdeeds are to be avoided else where," the sources said.
And Dr Phiri said most of the patients had since been evacuated to the mine hospital and only a few were remaining.
Dr Phiri said he was waiting for a report on the cause of the fire.
Labels: CRISPIN MOYO, RDAZ, STRIKE
Read more...
Soldiers take over at UTH
Written by George Chellah, Masuzyo Chakwe and George Zulu
Saturday, June 13, 2009 4:12:40 PM
CHIEF government spokesperson Lieutenant General Ronnie Shikapwasha yesterday said the government has deployed military medical personnel at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) to cushion the impact of the strike action by health workers. And Lt Gen Shikapwasha said the medical situation has not reached a crisis stage.
Meanwhile, Resident Doctors Association of Zambia (RDAZ) president Dr Crispin Moyo maintained that the strike by doctors would continue as long as the government does not respond to their demands. In an interview, Lt Gen Shikapwasha said the Ministry of Health was engaging military medical personnel where it felt the need.
"They have engaged a number of military personnel from Maina Soko Military Hospital to assist and others may come in from the Zambia National Service (ZNS) and the Zambia Air Force (ZAF)," he said.
Lt Gen Shikapwasha said the government had also opened up the police hospital for patients from outside.
"This has been done to decongest UTH. They are working according to manpower available," Lt Gen Shikapwasha said.
He said the medical personnel must go back to work unless there was a political agenda.
"The medical situation in the country requires that we save lives. That's why Florence Nightingale started the nursing profession," he said.
Lt Gen Shikapwasha said the government was doing everything possible to ensure that the medical staff return to work.
"This is the only government in the world which gives an increment during a recession. I haven't heard of any in the world. Even the US, despite all the money, it has not done this," he said.
Lt Gen Shikapwasha advised The Post to bring out the issues the government was raising so that people go back to work.
"People must go back and help other Zambians so that they don't die. The medical personnel must be patriotic enough," Lt Gen Shikapwasha said. "That includes you The Post, whether you want the government to fall, our people must continue to be treated."
Lt Gen Shikapwasha said the medical situation in the country had not reached a crisis stage.
"It is a situation that is of great concern," he said.
He said the situation in Kasama was improving.
But Dr Moyo said by yesterday, there had been no feedback from the government on the strike and maintained that the strike would continue as long as the government did not respond to their demands.
"So far, there has been no response from the Ministry of Health and we are even attending our annual general meeting now. So the strike will continue," said Dr Moyo.
And Zambia Union of financial Institutions and Allied Workers (ZUFIAW) president Joyce Nonde-Simukoko attributed the continued strike by health workers and civil servants throughout the country to leadership failure by both the government and union leaders.
The strike by health workers, doctors and teachers has continued paralysing institutions throughout the country.
Nonde-Simukoko called on the government to immediately call for a tripartite meeting to discuss the way forward as innocent people were suffering.
She said the union appreciated what the workers were going through as they had been sacrificing since the 1990s.
She appealed to all striking workers to rescind their decision and go back to work because it was ordinary people that were suffering.
"I was at UTH over the weekend and it was agony there. Life should not be lost. We are appealing to the government to immediately call for a tripartite meeting and discuss the way forward. What is happening is leadership failure both from the union and the leadership. Keeping quiet is not helping at all. People are dying and we should not be getting pleasure in that," she said.
Meanwhile, some teachers in Monze have vowed not to go back for work despite national union leaders and government signing a collective bargaining agreement citing betrayal and alleged corruption involved in the manner the process was being handled.
Some teachers said yesterday that they were disappointed with the outcome of the bargaining process and would not report back for work until a better deal was given as demanded for.
"We will hold a meeting on Monday next week where all these issues you are asking would be addressed. It is the members who decided and resolved to go on strike and it was not us union leaders so please can you wait for Monday and you will see what the workers will resolve," said SESTUZ Southern Province chairman Collins Malambo in interview when asked to comment on the out come of the negotiations.
And a check at various schools in Monze revealed that teachers were not working while pupils were busy playing football and wandering about the school premises.
At Monze Secondary School, only heads of departments were teaching while at Tagore, Monze town, Monze Basic and Manungu Basic schools, pupils had no one to attend to them.
Teachers talked to on condition of anonymity expressed disappointment at what they described as unfaithful conduct exhibited by their national union leaders during the negotiation process.
"We shall show them that we are ready to face whoever want to take us to our graves early by giving us peanuts and demonising wages. Let them employ their children and subject them to harsh conditions of service. We have been tolerant for a long time and we cannot continue to sacrifice when others are not doing so. It is really sad that our union leaders have continued to betray us. But we have to warn them that they have just started the fire which will be difficult to put out," the annoyed teachers said.
And Civil Society for Poverty Reduction (CSPR) information management and networking officer Nshindano Kryticous said the current high incidence of strikes and other forms of work stoppages in Zambia were a reflection on the performance and competence of the government who bear the responsibility of managing the affairs and resources of the country.
He said the fact that the government appeared to delay to firmly resolving the nationwide strike was an issue of concern for CSPR.
Kryticous said such practices did not foster the trust needed between the government, the social partners and civil society.
Kryticous urged the government to quickly examine the budgetary impact of the health workers' demands and come up with long lasting solutions to ensure the workers' rights are being met. He said part of the solution would lie in putting stringent mechanisms that would avoid misappropriation and misapplication of funds as recently witnessed with the purchase of 100 hearses and embezzlement of funds by workers at the Ministry of Health.
He said the government and individuals entrusted with national resources should be transparent and accountable to the Zambian people and be able to manage resources in a prudent manner that would ensure efficient allocation of resources for economic and social development towards the attainment of the MDGs and Vision 2030.
Labels: CRISPIN MOYO, RDAZ, RONNIE SHIKAPWASHA, UTH
Read more...
Stop these deaths
Written by Editor
The continued and spreading strike by almost all categories of public health workers in the country is extremely worrying. This strike is causing many deaths and a lot of untold suffering among our people. Every day we receive frightening, distressing pictures from clinics and hospitals around the country showing the deep suffering that this strike is causing among our people. This is certainly not a pleasant strike both for those taking part in it and those it affects.
Every time health workers go on strike, a battle is waged not only between strikers and those who manage our hospitals, those who are in charge of public resources, but also between the right to strike and the ethics of not doing so. The latter battle appears to be important, for it raises some controversial issues.
It cannot be denied that a strike is an extreme action. We say this because a strike threatens the livelihood of many strikers if it fails or is crushed. Debates at the time of a strike are often motivated by strikers’ immediate need for survival and the government’s resolve to crush the strike. The former normally uses the language of rights while the latter of morality. Abstract morality usually projects strikers as killers of unattended to patients, and supports the real killers.
This extreme language has prevented a rational appraisal of the problems of health workers and their method of struggle. To say that such strikes are always immoral is unacceptable. On the other hand, the statement that strikers need not be concerned with patients who are suffering due to the strike is difficult to accept as good ethics as well as good trade union strategy.
In sum, one must strive to exercise one’s rights while being sensitive to the ethical issues involved in the methods of struggle. Such sensitivity will help health workers be resolute in providing alternative care to patients during the strike. It will also help them further radicalise their struggle by moving from a strike – no patient care – to hospital occupancy – continued patient care under self-management. While the latter is difficult to achieve, unless groups consider their actions examining both the ethics and the needs of the struggle, they will never transcend their present constraints and achieve their larger goals.
Trying to understand this strike yesterday, we invited some nurses and doctors who are on strike to look at the distressing pictures we had from Lusaka’s University Teaching Hospital. We thought these friends of ours would be shocked and moved by these pictures that were distressing us. They were neither shocked nor moved in any way by these pictures. T
heir response was that this was nothing compared to the distressing situations they have to bear witness to every day. They maintained that if they were going to be shocked and moved in the way we have been shocked and moved, they wouldn’t be on strike because they would have left the health service a long time ago.
They said the situations under which they have to work every day were worse than the pictures we are showing them. They maintained that with or without their services under the current order, people will continue to die and suffer in the most undignified ways because the conditions in our hospitals are bad. They said they have tried the best they could to fight for the plight of their patients totally neglecting themselves and their own personal interests. And the time has come for them to fight for both their patients and themselves. And if we are being shocked and moved by these pictures, then their strike action may yield something positive for their patients and consequently themselves.
Clearly, this is a very serious strike about a very serious matter. It is a strike that cannot be trivialised in any way. But listen to the response of the acting Minister of Health:
“These strikes are politically influenced. The striking workers will be the ones to complain if constitutional office holders and senior government officials received an upward adjustment to their allowances and salaries.
It goes without saying that if you get 15 per cent, you can’t complain when senior government officials receive 15 per cent, because what is the basis for your complaint? If they get 10 per cent, constitutional office holders get 10 per cent. Also to insinuate that the person who is entitled to gratuity should not receive it, does not hold because a gratuity is an entitlement, they think they must get more money than the people supervising them.
Civil servants are being influenced by politicians to strike so that they can destabilise government functions. They should realise that a significant portion of the budget is sponsored by donors and salary increments will not be justified because of the current global economic crisis. First of all, we would want to talk to them that they are punishing innocent people. They are being incited politically, which is unfortunate.
There is an economic downturn, I don’t think there is appreciation that what is happening elsewhere affects us. Others are retrenching while others want salary increments. Do you think donors will be happy that there is a downturn and their people are losing jobs while here people are protesting? Those who are striking should realise that there are more capable and qualified people who are entitled to employment but are roaming the streets.”
This is the reaction of the Zambian government to the ongoing strike by nurses that has now been joined by doctors. These were the words of Mike Mulongoti, the acting Minister of Health, issued on behalf of Rupiah Banda’s government.
Mulongoti is reminding the health workers that they are punishing innocent people. Probably he is right because those running government are not dependent on the health services provided by these striking nurses and doctors. They have personal doctors and nurses. They also have facilities in South Africa where they can go even for common colds and minor knee operations. So they are in charge of health services that they themselves do not use, do not need. Or when they need them, they are not the common services provided for every citizen at these hospitals but special services tailored for them.
Briefing the press yesterday, Resident Doctors Association of Zambia president Dr Crispin Moyo said their withdrawal of labour comes in the wake of numerous problems being experienced by doctors:
“It is with deep regret that we inform the public that resident doctors have withdrawn their labour. Our action has been prompted by the current accommodation crisis being experienced by our members including intern doctors and postgraduate doctors, some of whom face eviction from their homes due to the failure on part of government to settle its obligations to the landlords. As per requirement, this class of medical doctors occupies training positions and their accommodation is the responsibility of government…Government continues to pay lip service to our plight.
It must be realised that it is impossible to provide an excellent service when you have a demotivated workforce working in poorly maintained infrastructure with largely inadequate non-operational equipment. Doctors are aware that the withdrawal of labour is not without extreme distress to the public and to the members. We shall therefore be returning to work as soon as this problem is resolved.”
And Resident Doctors Association Ndola branch president Dr Bright Nsokolo yesterday said the work stoppage has been caused by the unconducive working environment:
“The resident doctors at Ndola Central Hospital and Arthur Davison Children’s Hospital regret to inform the public that with immediate effect, we have gone on a work stoppage not because of our current bad conditions of service but because of the unconducive work environment where instead of saving lives, we are actually killing. This is because we are sending away more patients than we are admitting to go and die at home. As doctors, it makes our hearts bleed to send patients home who should otherwise be admitted all because there is no space to keep them and nurses to look after them.”
Dr Nsokolo appealed to the public not to think that doctors had neglected the sick:
“It is important also to mention that doctors have been working for over three weeks to try and serve the public in the absence of nurses and other health workers who are striking but now the situation has become unbearable. We had earlier appealed to the government to resolve the standoff with the striking workers within at least two days before we could go on a work stoppage. We hope the standoff will be resolved as soon as possible so that we can go back for work and serve our people. Doctors are ready to go for work as soon as the striking workers return.”
This is clearly a difficult situation which needs to be treated with seriousness. But we are not seeing that seriousness from the government. The response given by Mulongoti cannot be said to be a serious response to this serious problem that is taking the lives of some of our people. People have died, people are dying as a result of this strike. But there is no sense of urgency on the part of the government to try and address, and put an end to, this strike. There is need for the government to deal with the causes of this dissension, this strike. We therefore urge civic leaders, religious leaders and others with a voice that can be listened to by those in government and the striking health workers to step in and stop this strike that is claiming so many lives. It is irresponsible for those who can influence things to stand aside and watch while so many people are dying.
Labels: BRIGHT NSOKOLO, CRISPIN MOYO, HEALTHCARE, MIKE MULONGOTI, STRIKE, UTH
Read more...
