Avert catastrophe: Improve conditions of service for health staff

Chief among their complaints has been the fact that they work extraordinarily long hours, looking after so many patients. Sometimes they do not even have a break, especially when the queues are long. This places patient care in danger as overworked doctors and nurses are likely to miss vital signs. Take a 24-hour clinic such as Gaborone’s Julia Molefhe.

The facility is usually filled to capacity as late as 8pm, not because the doctors and nurses are idling, but because there are too many patients. A doctor who starts work at 8pm, and finds nearly 200 patients – 10 times more than the recommended number he or she is supposed to see in a day - cannot hope to get a break before 8am.