Modise pleads with doctors to continue serving
Innocent Selatlhwa | Monday April 28, 2025 15:34
Modise said at a press briefing this week that what doctors are doing is illegal and called on all those who have been working beyond a single call to continue doing so. On April 6, BDU decided to embark on minimum service provision for emergency call across the country. They announced that they had on April 3, 2025 given government 72 hours to engage and finalise emergency call to ensure non-disruption of health service provision across the public healthcare fraternity. But the employer party did not heed the call, engage or even respond, thus giving the impression of a none caring partner. BDU would as of April 7, 2025, in what they termed protecting its members against exploitation by the government of Botswana by doing one emergency call per month that will equate to 24 hours.
Doctors were also to ensure minimum staff availability per hospital per call and where there is no coverage, the employer party would use the public-private-partnership at their discretion. Government has since whisked BDU before the Industrial Court accusing them of inciting a strike. ”No member doctor shall be allowed to do more work than stipulated; doctors' overtime will not be applied to cover for emergency call needs; we expect that our members will not be harassed by other doctors in management across facilities; any system issues arising from this shall be addressed by the employer party; until there is a resolution of emergency call, we expect cooperation from our partner and understanding from the public,” they wrote Modise started off by assuring the nation that as the Ministry of Health, and indeed the new administration, they are determined to ensure that every Motswana and resident of the country, receives quality health care services regardless of who they are and where they live. He said they desired to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC) such that every Motswana who should receive medical services receives them any time and at any day they need such services. “I am confident that working together, as we should, with all stakeholders, we will be able to achieve this,” he said.
Turning to the burning issue of doctors emergency call services, Modise said he regrets that there seems to be a back and forth between them as government and the doctors through BDU. Modise said their position as government is that no issue is too big to be resolved. He urged all to endeavour to do anything to keep the nation alive and cared for. “I am fully aware that our doctors say they are not on strike but will just be doing one call per month. We all know that one call per month is not what could keep our people alive. We are not saying doctors should be exploited. In fact, no health worker, or any worker at all, should be exploited. That will be inhumane and unethical. That will be a violation of the rights of the workers. As you all know, as the new government, we swear by our dedication to upholding human rights. In this case, we wish to emphasise that both doctors and patients (being Batswana and all residents), do have rights and such rights should be respected and protected,” he said. Modise said he has had the opportunity to be briefed on how the situation is, at all public hospitals, adding that generally the situation is under control. However, he said they have some medical officers in some hospitals who indicated that they will not be taking more than one call per month and they have not been attending emergency calls despite being rostered. “This is illegal because it goes against the doctors conditions of service, including the latest court order which interdicted our doctors from attending to only one call per month as they had noticed,” he said.
The minister shared that at Princess Marina Hospital, most doctors are working as before, except at Paediatric and Orthopaedic wards where some doctors have not been taking emergency calls since this last Friday. “Sbrana Psychiatric Hospital is doing well because all the doctors there are attending calls. At Nyangabgwe Hospital, we also have some doctors who have not been taking calls, especially at Medicine, Surgery and Paediatric wards. In fact, when you compare Princess Marina and Nyangabgwe Hospitals, it appears Nyangabgwe Hospital has more doctors not taking calls. This is not good for our country and people as these are our referral hospitals. That is not who we are as Batswana. And it is totally against all medical ethics,” he said. As for District Hospitals, Modise said most of their doctors have been working as before, attending to calls when rostered. “We have only experienced some challenges at facilities like Sekgoma Memorial Hospital where we have five of the 19 doctors, not taking calls. Also at Letsholathebe II Memorial Hospital, where we have three out of the total 16, not taking calls. All our other District Hospitals are doing well with almost every doctor performing emergency call duties as before,” he said. The minister further said the situation at Primary Hospitals is also not bad. Of the 17 Primary Hospitals across the country, Modise said seven hospitals have not had a single doctor refusing to perform emergency call duties when rostered. “In the other 10 Primary Hospitals, we have had some doctors missing their emergency calls despite having been rostered,” he said.
So far, he said the most affected primary hospitals are Kasane and Palapye Primary Hospitals. He disclosed that in Kasane, six out of the possible nine have communicated with the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) that they will not be doing any extra call leaving only three medical officers to cover the calls between them. In Palapye, he said five medical officers have also communicated to the CMO that they will not be doing extra calls. Modise said as the Ministry of Health, they have rearranged their teams in their hospitals and across hospitals, in order to ensure that no patient is left unattended on account of the absence of a doctor who has decided not to take emergency calls. He said so far they are managing and the situation is under control. He thanked all doctors who are currently doing emergency calls as rostered. “They are the heroes and heroines of our nation. We surely cannot forget them. We urge them to carry on to serve their people and nation,” he said. Modise said they want the doctors to know that they are a new government that has committed to engaging them so that together they can attend to the many pressing issues within the public health system, including their conditions of service. He applauded them for not deserting the patient at this great hour of need. Further, he expressed gratitude to those doctors in the private sector, who he said have been calling and expressing desire to volunteer their services to the nation for free. Going forward, Modise said government will be engaging the doctors through the appropriate platforms so that they resolve the impasse sooner than later.