Times Of Swaziland: NO NEW CONTRACTS FOR SOME FOREIGN DOCTORS

NO NEW CONTRACTS FOR SOME FOREIGN DOCTORS
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BY MFANUKHONA NKAMBULE on 30/06/2019 08:58:00


MBABANE – Uncertainty! Labour law experts usually say uncertainty is not good
for staff morale.
Due to the shortage of doctors in the country, medical practitioners from Ghana,
Zimbabwe, Cuba (at some point), Tanzania, Zambia and other nations came to
Eswatini to offer services.
There were a few emaSwati who studied medicine, compounding the fact that a
majority of locals shied away from Sciences at both secondary and tertiary.
Even though the challenge with the shortage of doctors is still a major cause
for concern in the health sector, the Times SUNDAY can reveal that expatriate
doctors are currently uncertain about their future.
Actually, sources said they did not know whether they would be given new
contracts of employment after the existing ones had expired.
Affected medical practitioners are those whose speciality or expertise is
available in the local public health units.
It has been established that the decision by government was necessitated by the
prevailing economic challenges, which has resulted in the Ministry of Health not
hiring nurses as well – in the meantime.
new format introduced
Dr Simon Zwane, the Principal Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Health, said
they had introduced a new format to re-engage or not re-engage the medical
officers.
He said the ministry would retain medical specialists or doctors whose expertise
was highly needed, and scarce among local medical practitioners.
As a result, the principal secretary pointed out that a replaceable expatriate
doctor would not be considered for re-employment in the public health units.
He said the Ministry of Health would not take a unilateral decision, but engage
line managers at different public health institutions to appraise and compile
reports on the performances of the medical practitioners.
Dr. Zwane explained that the supervisors’ input or recommendations would be
taken into great consideration during negotiations for extension of services.
He further explained that a contract ideally had a commencement date and ending
or expiry date.
Before the expiry date, the principal secretary said a contracted employee was
supposed to indicate to government as an employer if he or she would apply for a
new contract or not.
He said it would be then that government would engage the expatriate doctors in
the negotiations.
“We are re-engaging expatriate doctors, and we are also not re-engaging
others,” he said.
The PS pleaded for calmness among stakeholders as the format was new and
necessitated by the economic slump.
He said the Ministry of Health had written letters to other doctors informing
them that government would not re-engage them.
Taiwan preference rubbished
Asked about allegations that government preferred assistant medical officers
trained in Taiwan to the established expatriate doctors, Dr Zwane responded that
it was his first time to hear of a practitioner called ‘assistant medical
officer’.
In short, he said such assertion was miles away from the veracity.
However, he clarified that the Ministry of Health had indeed engaged Eswatini
doctors trained from Taiwan on a two-year internship programme.
“Usually, they do the internship where they are schooling but the locals are
here with us doing the internship in the country,” he elucidated.
Upon completion of the internship, he said they would apply to the Eswatini
Medical and Dental Council for the licence to practice as doctors.
He said licensed doctors would either be employed by government or the private
sector. “We have interns here, some have been with us for the past two
weeks,” he said.
The number of expatriate doctors to be affected could not be ascertained as the
PS said he was not sure about the figure.
He also did not have the information in hand on the number of expatriate medical
practitioners under the employ of government.
Minister of Health Lizzie Nkosi said the statement by the PS was sufficient as
he was the contract manager.
She hinted on government’s cash flow problems, which have also affected
nursing graduates who could not be employed.
Bheki Mamba, the President of the Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU),
said he lacked information on the matter; hence he was unable to give an
informed comment.
Despite shortages of doctors and other health professionals, government spends a
lot of money on overtime allowances.
E54.3m in allowances
Last year, the Times of Swaziland reported that doctors and health
practitioners, in just six months, were paid E54.3 million for on-call and
standby allowances.
It must be said that Nkosi, the minister, who also worked for the same ministry
in the past, inherited an institution that was already in a serious crisis.
In September 2018, it was reported that Mbabane Government Hospital was unable
to feed its patients because it had no money.
There are 500 beds at the hospital.
On September 14, 2018, it was reported that at least six children in Eswatini
had died of diarrhoea and many more were sick because government was broke and
could not pay for vaccines.
It would cost E90 for the vaccine to immunise a child. Medicines ran out in
public hospitals and health clinics across the country, with nurses protesting
to draw attention to the crisis.
This month, our sister newspaper the Times of Swaziland reported on shortages of
medication in the hospitals.