Concerned nurses, midwives down tools
Health service delivery in public hospitals is set to be negatively affected after about 2 035 Concerned Unemployed Nurses and Midwives (CUNM) have downed tools to force Ministry of Health (MoH) to employ them.
The concerned health workers say they have been working in public hospitals for the past three years, taking home locum and other allowances.
Under the arrangement, nurses and midwives are paid K3 000 for working at night and K2 500 per day besides student upkeep allowances of K30 000 for diploma holders and K50 000 for degree holders.
In a letter dated February 28 2019 addressed to district nursing officers, chairperson of the group, Donald Zgambo, has stressed the need for MoH to resolve the situation as one way of maximising quality delivery of health services in the country.
Reads the letter in part: “We, therefore, like to inform you that we are staging withdrawal of labour in all public hospitals within days of 1st to 10th March. The withdrawal will penetrate in central hospitals and spread to all district hospitals by 10th March all districts hospitals will have followed suit.
“With effect from 11th March, no one will be working for locum and upkeep allowances in all public hospitals as we uniformly seek revival on locum, upkeep allowances and optimal procedures for recruiting nurses and midwives in Malawi.”
In an interview, Zgambo said the decision follows a meeting with MoH on September 14 last year attended by Principal Secretary Dan Namarika and Minister of Health Atupele Muluzi who acknowledged the over 50 percent vacancy rate for nurses in public hospitals.
He said they were promised that recruitment would be done by November 2018.
MoH spokesperson Joshua Malango said the ministry has recruited some health personnel for central hospitals who are set to report for work from April 1 2019.
He said: “Government has not stopped recruiting because it is recruiting. At ministry level, we deal with staff for central hospitals and interviews were done. Successful people were picked and they will report for duty on April 1 2019.
“In the same vein, the Local Government Service Commission advertised for district hospitals and people have been shortlisted, interviews will be conducted soon.
“I must stress that locum is voluntary, one can choose to be involved or not.”
Since 2013 when government stopped direct recruitment of nurses and midwives, all district and central hospitals are using locum and student upkeep allowances as major forms of employment to cover up the vacancy rates.
A November 2018 country report by Wemos Foundation shows that Malawi has only 0.52 professional health workers per 1 000 of population against a required 4.45 workers as recommended by World Health Organisation (WHO).
Wemos is an independent international organisation that advocates for access to health for everyone, and everywhere.
The report, titled Mind the Funding Gap: Who is Paying the Health Workers? also revealed that vacancy rates are up to five times higher in rural and peripheral areas.
