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Amai Mnangagwa

Bulawayo Bureau
THE Zimbabwe Nurses Association (ZINA) has applauded First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa for paying surprise visits to hospitals, saying this will help improve service delivery at public health institutions.

Cde Mnangagwa paid surprise visits to Mpilo Central Hospital and United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH) on Wednesday to assess challenges the institutions were facing, as well as how personnel relate with patients. The First Lady also paid a surprise visit to Harare Central Hospital recently.

Nurses at the hospitals were caught unawares, making it easy for the First Lady to experience what patients go through when seeking treatment at the health institutions. After the visits, the First Lady urged public health institutions to improve their relations with members of the public and treat patients with dignity as that was part of their mandate. In a statement yesterday, ZINA said such visits would help the leadership in the country to have an appreciation of the reality on the ground.

“We applaud impromptu visits by the First Lady to public institutions. Leaders must never be removed from the realities on the ground. As the First Lady probably saw for herself, the floors are potholed, most toilets don’t work, paint is peeling off and patients are buying most consumables which should be provided by the hospitals,” said ZINA.

“We do not condone negative attitudes by health workers. With these visits, we hope our leaders will work towards improving the situations in our hospitals.” Nurses at UBH last week staged a demonstration and petitioned the Ministry of Health and Child Care over the shortages of drugs and other medical basics at the institution.

The nurses accused the hospital management of deliberately failing to order drugs and other necessities as a means to force patients to buy them at the UBH24 Pharmacy, a private pharmacy, in return for kick-backs. Cde Mnangagwa acknowledged that public hospitals were facing many challenges and expressed optimism that the new Government would address them urgently.