HARARE City Council has reopened all its clinics, which had not been operational since July 2020, due to a shortage of nurses.
HARARE City Council has reopened all its clinics, which had not been operational since July 2020, due to a shortage of nurses.
In a statement, council spokesperson, Michael Chideme, said efforts were underway to incentivise health personnel.
“Council has reopened all clinics closed at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic due to staff shortages,” Chideme said.
“Locum nurses have been engaged while nurses, who had been deployed to hospitals to attend to Covid-19 cases, have been redeployed to their workstations.
“Efforts are now underway to incentivise the health personnel so that the city health system remains standing.”
Council Health Services director, Dr Prosper Chonzi, said staff shortage had forced them to close nine clinics.
“We have lost hundreds of our nurses, who resigned, and pursued greener pastures,” he said.
“At the height of the Covid-19 era, most nurses flocked the United Kingdom, while others went to other foreign countries, where they were offered better remuneration.
“Some were recruited by local Non-Governmental Organisations, who also offered them better salaries, in foreign currency.
“To that end, we started rationalising our services, taking those few nurses left at some smaller clinics, moving them to bigger clinics, to boost staff there.
“We would then shut those smaller clinics.”
Meanwhile, the City of Harare is issuing 100 000 summons to rate defaulters.
“Council expects recipients of the summons to either pay up in full or negotiate payment plans,” Chideme said.
H-Metro
