By Nonduduzo Kunene | 2019-07-29

OVER 400 qualified nurses are sitting at home as government has frozen their recruitment, thus crippling the health sector of the country.

This was disclosed by the director of Health Services Dr Vusi Magagula when addressing Mbabane Pensioners branch on Wednesday.

The director was called by the pensioners to address the issues faced by the elderly at Mbabane Government Hospital.

The director’s visit to the pensioners was what the senior citizens longed for as they lodged over 10 issues that they experienced in the biggest hospital of  the country. Dr Magagula, reacting to one of the burning issues which was the unavailability of medical professionals in the hospital, said the hospital and other health care centres in the country were under-staffed.

His revelation is supported by the reports which assessed the health ministry’s staffing concerns and a fact which was also admitted by the Prime Minister Ambrose Dlamini in his breakfast meeting with editors recently.

One of the elders stated that they queue for hours at the hospital without being attended to by a single nurse or doctor.

Former medical professional Bertram Dlamini stated that sometimes they are turned back home because of the unavailability of doctors at the hospital.

“At times we are turned back from the hospital after queuing for hours,” he said.

Dr Magagula started by explaining that the ministry of health has a serious shortage of staff, mainly nurses and doctors.

He added that the shortage of staff is beyond the ministry as the government has frozen recruitment. He disclosed that over 400 qualified nurses are sitting at home unemployed yet they have serious staff shortages.

Dr Magagula said the nurses currently unemployed could improve the rate of service delivery. Coming to the issue of shortage of doctors, Dr Magagula said he believes this issue would be addressed soon as there are doctors who are currently undergoing training and are expected to come and practice in the country in no time.

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