HAPPY 2014, dear readers and followers of the “Beyond the News” weekly column, it’s great to be back again with you as we all look forward to a prosperous year.

 In the edition signifying the renaissance of this column a month ago, I featured an article on Zambia’s health sector, concentrating on a strike action by public health workers at several of the high referral institutions in the country.

Through that publication, I recall highlighting probable and none-so factors that could have led to the strike action by specifically the nurses and midwives.

I went on to conclude that the health workers through their union representatives and the Government as the appointing authority, erred in the way that the situation was handled.

In a nutshell, an amicable solution could be only found through concerted dialogue by both parties post the strike.

Sadly, it’s now a month down the line and this has not happened. Recently, there has been a spate in the health sector following Government’s decision to dismiss those nurses and midwives who participated in the strike.

Over three hundred new nurses have been engaged to fill in the vacant positions mostly at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) in Lusaka.

But whether health workers are on strike or not; whether others are fired and others engaged instantly; Zambia’s health sector is in need of a serious overhaul because the people who are mandated to administer healthcare services are not working efficiently.

Observably, there has been a growing tendency among health personnel in Government hospitals not to adequately offer the required healthcare services to patients.

Government has in the past strived to change the status quo through measures such as the improvement of conditions of service, but still this poor attitude towards work does not seem to change at all.

A few days ago, I conferred with an associate who narrated how one of his relatives suffering from a complicated ailment and went to a named Government hospital in their ailing state to seek treatment.

After queuing for a long time enroute to the doctor’s office for consultation, this person was told to make an appointment and return weeks later so that treatment could be administered.

When I heard this, I asked myself why the medical expert could not administer treatment instantly as it was obviously visible that the patient was not well.

Could it be that the health institution lacked the necessary facilities to attend to this patient or the medical superintendent just had too much on their mind that an appointment for three weeks later was the cure?

Sadly, this patient went back home, having spent money on transport to get to and from the hospital with the hope that their condition would be better than before.

This occurrence can only be deemed as “unfortunate” especially bearing in mind that there was no concrete explanation given for this patient to go back to the hospital after this period.

What is even more concerning is that health personnel in this country are struggling to leave up to the requirements of their “noble and selfless” profession.

This unfortunately means chances are that even fresh graduates from the school of medicine, when engaged into service, may portray the same approach of negligence when attending to patients.

We have often heard people narrate how their relatives nearly or actually died due to negligence by a nurse whose role was to simply act quickly and rescue the sick person.

More stories are told of how nurses sleep on duty while a patient cries for a glass of water to take their medication.

The point is; doctors, nurses, midwives need to sacrifice a little more to ensure the well-being of the patient; this is what “professionalism” requires.

How does a doctor opt to leave his station at a community clinic for a one hour lunch break while a long queue of patients await his attention?

One of the five principles of health and social care practice is upholding the patient’s right to quality healthcare service at all times.

In Zambia this seems to be struggle and it is sad that as the country commemorates its golden jubilee of independence this year, such diminutive issues are still a thorn in national development.

Government needs to seriously collaborate with health workers’ unions to rebrand the attitude of health workers to improve service delivery in the sector.

Such attitude should not be tolerated and I cannot be surprised that it could have contributed to the recent dismissal of nurses as Government was frustrated at the poor productivity of health workers despite ranting for higher perks.

We have entered into the New Year and action must start now as the Government and respective trade unions outline the operational strategies for 2014.

Constant sensitisation of health workers is lacking and this is one failure that could be attributed to the trade unions in 2013.

Government has done its part by increasing nurse’s remuneration and the trade unions should now elevate this development by constantly reminding their members on the tenets of commitment to service.

Since the nurses were relieved of their duties, all we have heard are the unions pleading with Government to rescind its decision to reduce unemployment.

If both parties are ready to dialogue, let’s get on with it because there is more than just unemployment at stake here.

For comments and contributions write to; jameskunda91@gmail.com or 0964317110/ 0973182006.