Health and Childcare Deputy Minister Sleiman Kwidini accused hospital staff of deliberately sabotaging hospital machinery to force repairs, allowing them to work at private hospitals for extra cash.
Kwidini made these remarks during a tour of the United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH) last week. He also announced that the government plans to reintroduce locum in all public hospitals to motivate health workers to stay in the public sector. He said:
<blockquote>
Some of the problems that we see in hospitals, such as mechanical faults are caused by our people because they would want to ground the systems in the institutions and to go and practice in the private sector where they can get more money.
I have seen our chemistry machines in labs and most of them have technical faults and these technical faults are not the manufacturers’ problem or the age but it is because of our people who are working on those machines.
They are creating those faults so that they can take these specimens to the private where they practise as locum practitioners.
</blockquote>
UBH Chief Medical Officer William Busuman urged the government to implement measures that will attract doctors to work in public institutions. Said Busuman (via <a href="https://newsday.co.zw/southerneye/local/article/200038725/govt-to-reintroduce-locum-in-public-hospitals-kwidini">Southern Eye</a>):
<blockquote>
We want the government to reintroduce issues to do with locum for health practitioners so that they come back to public hospitals.
If we have the locum funds or on-call funds, there will not be any workers who will be found in private hospitals.
It is a way that we saw that may reduce a lot of challenges in the hospital.
</blockquote>

Pindula News

The Deputy Minister of Health said some hospital staff are breaking machines on purpose to get extra money working in private hospitals. He wants to reintroduce locum in public hospitals to keep workers from leaving. The Chief Medical Officer at UBH wants measures to attract doctors back to public hospitals. He says having locum funds will help reduce challenges in hospitals. It's important for staff to work together in public hospitals and not sabotage equipment for personal gain.

Health Deputy Minister Blames Staff Sabotage For Equipment Breakdowns In Public Hospitals

Award-winning journalist and filmmaker, Hopewell Chin’ono, has secured 50 dialysis machines for Zimbabwe from one of his contacts based in the United Kingdom.
Dialysis machines are artificial kidneys that perform most, but not all, kidney functions for patients who have permanent or temporary renal failure.
The machines use hemodialysis to cleanse the blood and balance its constituents, according to <a href="https://www.analog.com/en/technical-articles/guide-to-how-does-a-dialysis-machine-works.html">an online source.</a>
Posting on Twitter this Sunday, Chin’ono said he received a call from a Zimbabwean lady working for the British public health system, the National Health Service (NHS), saying she wants to give 50 dialysis machines to Zimbabwe. <a href="https://twitter.com/daddyhope/status/1617063645485088768">Said Chin’ono</a>:
<blockquote>
I got a phone call from a Zimbabwean lady working for the British @NHSEngland in Birmingham managing dialysis machines.
She has 50 machines that she wants to give to Zimbabwe.
Harare Council and other councils run by the opposition can get these machines to save our people.
Harare City Council has 12 Polyclinics that can be turned into part dialysis centers.
The council then only buys dialysis machine consumables, and Zimbabweans living with kidney disease can live normal lives again.
This requires competent councilors and mayors in cities.
Our people are dying yet these machines are affordable going for as little as USUS$8 000.
</blockquote>
Chin’ono, a critic of the government, has over the past few years been exposing the rot in the country’s public health delivery system.
In 2020, he was arrested after he exposed the looting of public funds in the procurement of COVID-19 test kits and other medical sundries.

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