HEALTH and Child Care minister Dr David Parirenyatwa yesterday had a personal encounter with the epitome of the rot at most public health centres when he was taken around an incomplete mortuary whose construction was abandoned in 2006 resulting in trees and shrubs growing inside the structure at Harare Central Hospital.
By Dumisani Sibanda,Assignments Editor
Parirenyatwa, who was accompanied by his deputy Dr Paul Chimedza and Health Services Board chairman Dr Lovemore Mbengeranwa described the building as an “embarrassment”.
“The mortuary that is being built is an embarrassment. We have mazhanje and jacaranda trees growing in there. It was built in 2006. We need to go back and look at the tender for that project and find out why it is in that state,” Parirenyatwa said. Staff at the hospital’s old mortuary said the morgue had a carrying capacity of 146 bodies, but was holding an average of 300 corpses at any given time.
“These problems would be over if the new mortuary was completed,” one of the mortuary attendants said.
A senior hospital official lamented the state of the lecture room being used by students in the School of Midwifery which she described as “too small” and had a leaking roof.
“We were instructed to have three intakes of 40 students each per year, but there was no corresponding increase in the resources. The classroom is supposed to have 25 students, so we end up having some learning under the tree at times,” said an official who declined to be named.
The official also raised concern over staff shortages.
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“We have a situation in the ward where one nurse takes care of 10 patients during the day and one nurse looks after 15 patients at night yet the recommended rate is one nurse to four patients,” the hospital official said.
Parirenyatwa in response said: “We need all of us and the Press can help us here to lobby for recruitment in the health sector to be unfrozen because we are dealing with life here and it is important.”
Speaking at the same meeting, Mbengerwana said government did not have have money to improve workers’ salaries and other conditions of service.
“Remember at one time we had all civil servants getting $100 per month, but we are now trying to have a proper salary structure. We have a plethora of allowances, housing and car loans which are still to be resuscitated. We had said let’s pay our staff 50% of what their counterparts in the region are getting.But you know money is not the only thing to retain the staff. Having state-of-the-art equipment at the hospitals as is now happening is important,” Mbengeranwa said.
Parirenyatwa urged hospital staff to compile their financial needs ahead of a parliamentary workshop on next year’s Budget to be held in Victoria Falls at the weekend.
