A huge number of nurses is alleged to have failed to report for work at Mpilo Hospital due to the dire transport situation in the country.
The transport situation in the country has worsened following an increase in fuel prices on Saturday evening.
Fuel prices affect bus fares and prices of other commodities. Speaking to New Zimbabwe, an unnamed medical staff at the hospital said:
Many nurses failed to turn up for work due to increased transport costs, the few who showed up came turned very late. Doctors have to lift patients up the stairs to as far as the second floor where Mpilo’s only functional main theatre is located.
While an ideal hospital model has ramps to ferry patients when lifts are down, the main hospital facility does not. The hospital has pre-independence lifts that are always down. We have to carry patients up the stairs for emergencies to go to theatre or to wards upstairs.
The development comes when doctors have been on strike since the 3rd of September, demanding a sustainable remuneration.
They say that they are now incapacitated as their salaries have sharply depreciated due to the soaring inflation.
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