Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. Health caregivers at Sally Mugabe Central Hospital, formerly Harare Hospital and commonly know as Gomo have been accused of being unprofessional
Veteran journalist and health rights defender Caiphas Chimhete said he witnessed unprofessional conduct at the institution during his three-week stay. He narrates:
It would appear as if the health workers in this particular ward (Ward 7) have never read the Patients’ Charter, which emphasises patients’ rights, privacy and confidentiality.
For most of the time during my three-week stay in the ward, they would call patients by the nature of their ailment – the most inhumane thing anyone can do to a sick person.
A very sick patient would be referred to as ‘chigulani’ or the one hospitalised for issues to do with dysfunctional reproductive organs spoken to as ‘uyo we siki anofunga Kuti anopona asingadyi [that one suffering from a sexually transmitted disease thinks he can survive without eating] and they would also talk loudly about those who had multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis who were housed temporarily but “conveniently” at the back of the ward.
As a person that works for an organisation that advocates for people’s health rights, I tried to reason with them, but I was told to mind my business or else transfer to a private hospital…
A number of patients died during the time of my admission and I believe some of the deaths could have been avoided if patients were given professional health care.
Another patient, whom I had just spoken to, called for help as he wanted to be put back on oxygen, but no one came to assist.
He was gone in less than 15 minutes and was wheeled away to the mortuary with the nurses showing no remorse whatsoever.
He added that nurses would neglect patients and spend the good part of the afternoon surfing the internet searching for nursing vacancies outside the country.
Chimhete also witnessed nurses stealing drugs from patients, presumably for resale to supplement their salaries.
He said the issue happened to him and when he complained to the doctors, a senior nurse in the ward who had been absent when the incident transpired, defended the accused nurse.
He added that patients who complained would be given little food or blood-stained and torn hospital clothes.
Chimhete said one doctor advised him to “keep it low and concentrate on getting my health restored.”
He also said there were inadequate doctors at the institution and that affects service delivery.
More: The Standard
