Over 100 nurses' contracts not renewed
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Friday April 23, 2021 17:53
The Ministry has not renewed contracts for over 100 temporary nurses across the country, Mmegi has learnt.
“The Ministry has not given reasons why it cannot absorb or renew those nurses’ contracts during this time where there is shortage in hospitals and clinics. Our nurses have been working long hours due to shortage in the hospitals and clinics. The contracts for the nurses employed under COVID-19 have been terminated or not renewed for unknown reasons.
The nurses were helpful because they were doing testing for COVID-19, screening, contact tracing and other routine activities. Nurses on the ground are overwhelmed, while some nurses have succumbed to COVID-19 and yet others are in quarantine, isolation and the rest of the nurses are denied annual leaves. Moreover, these nurses have been going for about two months without getting their wages,” Rahube said in an interview.
On other issues concerning nurses, the president said despite COVID-19 showing how important nurses and other health workers in Botswana are, employers still fail to financially compensate them on time and adequately.
He said the month of April is important for the government as annual salary adjustments were made on April 1, 2020 for all public servants, but salary adjustments in the health sector were not processed in 2021 as promised for healthcare workers.
The BONU leader said the simplest thing the government could do was to pay wages on time and adequately to maintain a level of motivation on nurses. Rahube said the union is also concerned by the high number of unemployed nurses despite shortage of nurses in health facilities and the union continues to plead with the government to absorb them. Recently, Mmegi quoted Rahube saying that in Kgalagadi 24 nurses tested positive for COVID-19, another 43 in Francistown, Lobatse/ Molepolole 31, Selebe-Phikwe/ Bobonong 20 and Gaborone 50. He said all the cases are related to nurses carrying out their duties.
“What is most painful to our members is that they are now forced to work long hours due to the current workload which has worsened the situation,” he was quoted as saying.
Unlike individuals who are allowed to go on self isolation when they are on contact tracing while awaiting the COVID -19 results, nurses do not have that luxury but are required to work until the results are out, according to the union president. Rahube argued that this is the time when government could be calling or engaging all retired nurses to help in the frontline.