Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. The Minister of Health and Child Care Douglas Mombeshora has warned doctors employed by the Government against transferring patients to their private surgeries without any justifiable cause, reported ZimLive.
Speaking during a Question and Answer session in the National Assembly on Wednesday, Mombeshora said disciplinary action will be taken against Government doctors who divert patients to their private surgeries without justification. He said:
Those patients who are admitted in government hospitals are supposed to follow treatment protocols in government hospitals.
It is allowed at a certain level, especially the consultancy, to have private practice, but it is not allowed to transfer patients that you have seen in government to your private practice unless the patient has insisted that they no longer want to be treated in a government hospital.
When such cases arise, the patient is requested to put in writing that they are leaving the government hospital against medical advice to go and get treatment elsewhere.
…If a government medical practitioner is referring a patient to his private practice, please let us know so that appropriate disciplinary action can be taken.
Zimbabwe’s health sector is facing numerous challenges that include dilapidated infrastructure, poorly equipped government hospitals, brain drain, and a severe shortage of medicines.
As a result, some patients opt for expensive private hospitals while people living closer to Zambia and South Africa cross the border to seek medical care in the neighbouring countries.
Zimbabwe’s political and business elites fly out to Asian countries such as India, Singapore and China for medical treatment.
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