SEVERAL resident doctors at Harare Central Hospital are reportedly up in arms against their administration after they were evicted from their halls of residence to make way for new medical staff.
BY SILENCE CHARUMBIRA
According to an internal memo dated January 7 and signed by clinical director, George Vera, the doctors have been given until March 31 to vacate the staff quarters.
“This memorandum serves to inform you that you are required to vacate hospital accommodation by March 31, 2016. This move is taken to accommodate other specialists, as only two casualty officers are to remain in residential accommodation to cater for emergencies.”
Sources at the public referral hospital said some of the doctors were allegedly mobilising to resist the move.
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Vera said it was normal for resident doctors to be asked to vacate their staff houses.
“We are not forcing them out, but every institution has its own rules. It is like when one is in Grade 1, when they pass, they go to the next level and these doctors are now more senior and they have to move out and make way for new doctors,” he said.
“We keep some doctors at the hospital because they are under training and we want them to concentrate. This accommodation is not permanent, it is revolving.”
Vera said the hospital had accommodation for just 20 new doctors per year against at least 40 new doctors who join the institution annually.
He said the hospital had less housing than Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals, adding most public hospitals were experiencing accommodation challenges.