Minister of Health Sylvia Masebo says the government is set to address issues of doctors and other health workers engaging in private jobs at the expense of performing duties they were employed for.
Ms Masebo said the trend of health practitioners having more than one Job is compromising quality service delivery in the health sectors hence the need for the government to look into the issue.
The Minister said during a thanksgiving service held at the United Church of Zambia (UCZ) St Andrews to commemorate International Nurses’ Day.
Ms Masebo said she is going to table the issue of health workers engaging in private jobs to the cabinet office in Lusaka to see how best the issue can be addressed and ensure that all people benefited.
She said the majority of the doctors were not having one job but that they were having a lot of jobs, the thing which had contributed to people not getting a service.
“I will take this issue to the cabinet whether to have a doctor or health worker doing more than one job. This needs to be resolved, there are so many ways to have this matter addressed like increasing the salary,” she said.
And Ms Masebo says the government this year will promote practitioners that upgraded their qualifications to the next level using this year’s budgets which was supposed to go towards employing 3000.
She added that the Government was going to ensure that more nurses are employed to curb the current trend where family members were the ones taking care of their patients.
She has commended the nurses for the service they are rendering to the Zambians and has urged them to continue working with the Government to address some of the challenges they were facing.
Zambia Union of Nurses Organisation (ZUNO) president Tisa Chipunda has urged the Government and stakeholders in the health sector to invest in nursing education and training as well as create policies that will promote a healthy work environment.
Ms Chiponda further urged the Government to scale up the recruitment and promotions process for 2023 nurses and midwife personnel for effective health service delivery.
“Investing in nursing and health care can lead to significant benefits for individuals, communities and be able to strengthen and sustain a skilled and competent workforce,” she said.
Nursing and Midwifery Council of Zambia chairperson Patricia Mukwita said this year’s theme resonated so well with the council’s quest to improve the quality of training nurse’s and practice not only to protect the public from unsafe practice but also to preserve the future and relevance of the nursing profession.
Ms Mukwita said the council had put in place measures aimed at improving the profession of nurses and midwifery.
She expressed concern with the growing gap in the clinical skills of practitioners saying the council would address the challenge by strengthening enforcement of the set of standards of the profession and training to ensure only competent nurses and midwives graduated as practitioners.
The day was being commemorated under the theme ‘our nurses, our future’.
Sylvia Masebo, do you know why Doctors are doing double jobs. They want to feed their families.
The cost of living is extremely high in your government. They need to survive 1d10t.
I don’t agree with you saying that doctors are doing double jobs because the cost of living is extremely high. Doctors have always been doing locums in private clinics or hospitals because it has always supplemented their low salaries. If the Dr is not on duty say at night, why can’t the doctor do a locum at a private clinic/hospital? She has a free will
Female Ministers of health are controversial. Reminds me of Nkandu Luo who was always fighting doctors. I think it’s high time HH retires Ms. Masebo. She has totally failed.
There is no problem in having two jobs but when you start referring patients to the private hospital where you have your second job citing better service then it’s a problem.
The only thing missing at my hospital are drugs. Staff is always available each time I visit the institution.
As for having more than one job…. when the complaint came up during the PF tenure, Upnd sprung to the defense of doctors.
It’s not only doctors who have more than one source of income. Mechanics repair private vehicles after knocking off from the government workshop.
Surveyors do the same
Draught men do the same.
Be careful how you handle this.
She’s courting trouble. The health sector has been stable in terms of labour matters for a long time now. It’s not by chance that this is so. If Sylvia thinks she can get away with her antagonistic stance against health workers she’ll get a rude shock. I hope she’s ready.
She thinks she will succeed by threats. I remember when these people downed their tools that we recorded so many deaths.
Don’t mind this menopausal erratic woman. She is not medically qualified and is detached from the reality of medical staff in this country. All she knows is opening her big mouth and saying effing rubbish like p00 p00 coming out from her mouth. Sick woman
pan-ya-pako
Always trash like talk, KZ your posts always stink like heaps of rotten garbage in Kalingalinga.
Iwe chinyo cho wakulabalisha? Ukutumpa ili ule.Most civilised nations allow its Doctors, Nurses and other professionals to have as many jobs as they wish. They do not want to be involved in bribes or thefts like your self.Jealous pamusula.Makaka uyu.
First she insults doctors by calling them thieves, she then touches on private income source. What more does she want? This our sick minister needs to be doctored.
Most countries allow workers to have more than one jobs. It is up to the individual if he/she is able to do extra jobs. Using inflamatory language is not a proper way of solving a problem.
She’s just failed. Go back in records you will find that she supported doctors on this issue.