The Sunday News
Mthabisi Tshuma, Sunday News Correspondent
NURSES at Mpilo Central Hospital on Monday returned to work following the availing of Protective Personal Equipment (PPE).
Last week, health workers from the hospital went on a go slow, as they claimed that their lives were under risk of contracting Covid-19 because of lack of PPE.
In an interview, Mpilo clinical director Dr Solwayo Ngwenya said the situation at the hospital has returned to normalcy.
“Our nurses returned to duty on Monday after they had walked out due to fears of Coronavirus last week.
“There has been some improvement in the availability of protective gear and some education ways so that the health workers won’t be at risk. Our nurses have come to help us fight this virus,” said Dr Ngwenya.
Dr Ngwenya said there are sourcing extra proctetive gear as they prioritise the safety of their workers.
EcoSure, a subsidiary of Econet, owned by business mogul Mr Strive Masiyiwa, has since offered free PPE for all doctors and nurses who attend duties during the fight against the epidemic, while they have also offered free Vaya transport to both nurses and doctors, so they can commute to and from work in safe and sanitised vehicles.
In addition, they have put on the table life and health insurance in the form of a cash benefit of $500 per day, for each day of hospitalisation, and a lump sum benefit of $50 000 in the event of permanent disability and eventual death caused by any accident of any health worker during this period.
“We are actively sourcing for extra protective gear from the Government, private sector and donors.
“Challenges for our staff has been mainly on transport as some have failed to come to work citing that there is no transport or the transport they use is still crowded and they have fears about Coronavirus,” said Dr Ngwenya.
Dr Ngwenya said the operations of the day one and two into the lockdown have been running fairly smooth.
“As of yesterday (Monday), we have not yet attended to any suspected case of Covid-19. Day one into the lockdown ran smoothly at the hospital and we were able to do some operations which were emergencies,” he said.
Mpilo Central Hospital is now only attending to emergency cases while all admitted patients who can cope are being discharged, measures which will remain in place until Covid-19 is no longer a threat.
All non-emergency operations are also being cancelled while the elderly have been advised to limit their visits. Uncompliant patients who come to the hospital without an emergency are being turned away.
@mthabisi_mthire.
