Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. Mutare City Council has been hit by a mass exodus of nurses and firefighters due to poor conditions of service, reported New Ziana.
The Acting Town Clerk, Blessing Chafesuka said that on average, 10 nurses resign every month resulting in a workforce of less than 70, down from 170.
He said nurses resigning have cited poor salaries and working conditions with most of them moving to Europe and Arabia, as well as local NGOs. Said Chafesuka:
The brain drain of our firefighters and nurses, who are drawn to Saudi Arabia and Europe, is a severe problem for us. Our reliance on temporary nurses has increased due to the high rate of nurse attrition.
We started off with 170 nurses, but now we have fewer than 70, and we hire new nurses every month. Due to that severe scarcity, some of our clinics have ceased to have staff on weekends.
We are also facing the same challenge within the fire department as the members of staff are again seeking greener pastures elsewhere.
He said the shortage of nurses is compromising the quality of health as patients cannot be attended to on time.
Mutare City Council runs Chikanga, City Center, Dangamvura, Fern Valley, Gimboki, Hobhouse, and Forbes Border Post clinics.
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