Mpilo Central Hospital’s outpatient department will be fully operational next week following the return to work of 75 per cent of junior doctors who were on strike, a Chronicle report claims.
Speaking to State media on Friday, Mpilo Central Hospital clinical director Dr Solwayo Ngwenya revealed that most of the doctors who were fired for misconduct have since returned to work. He said:
Most of the doctors are back at work. Only 13 out of 51 who were fired are yet to report for duty. The latest one reported for duty today.
… to us, it was our outpatient department which was mainly affected. We are envisaging fully opening up the outpatient department that was partially opened. It was not closed completely. We will probably open it next week when we resume full-scale operations.
Junior doctors went on strike on September 3 last year citing incapacitation and a severe shortage of medical equipment, sundries and drugs at public hospitals.
After the Labour Court ruled that the strike was illegal, the Health Service Board (HSB) fired 448 doctors after conducting disciplinary hearings.