Vice President and Minister of Health and Child Care Constantino Chiwenga says the Government is prioritising improving the conditions of service for health care workers.
Speaking on public health and national security in Zimbabwe at the Zimbabwe National Defence University to participants of the national defence course 10/2021 on Thursday, Chiwenga said the Government also wants to ensure the equitable distribution of healthcare workers across the country. He said:
The effect is that quality of care is compromised and over-burdening staff, resulting in burnout, with undesirable consequences on client satisfaction, in respect to service received.
Equitable distribution of staff, particularly specialists, remains a challenge. Most specialists are in the major cities of Harare and Bulawayo. Attracting specialists to other cities has not been very successful.
Some of the reasons given for not taking up posts in smaller cities and towns include inadequate accommodation, lack of opportunities for private practice and unavailability of school facilities for children.
Subsequently, there is a view that Government wants everything to happen in Harare and Bulawayo, which has obvious subjective ramifications when judging Government performance and social cohesion.
At this point, let me underscore that Government is committed to improving the conditions of service for health care personnel so that everyone is motivated to work in any part of the country.
He said this is being done among other things through the availing of accommodation for the workers.