Kasungu hospital nurses on strike

Nurses at Kasungu district hospital on Thursday marched and presented a petition to management in protest of poor working conditions at the facility.

Among others , the health workers are bitter with a directive by management to put a bar of  K20,000 for nurses who want to earn extra cash by working over-time using locum.

Locum is an arrangement government introduced to ensure continuous availability of clinical and nursing care by paying the staff based on the hours they have worked outside their routine schedule.

The health workers are also complaining of lack of resources including new uniforms arguing that management last bought uniforms  five  years ago.

” Why restrict our overtime allowances? This is so unfair. Patients will be the ones to suffer because quality of service will be deprived,” said chairperson for the disgruntled nurses.

The National Organisation of Nurses and Midwifes of Malawi (Nonm) president Jonathan Abraham-Gama is on record saying: Malawian nurses face a lot of challenges, including poor working conditions and salaries.”

Ministry of Health spokesperson Henry Chimbali confirmed his office received reports that nurse at Kasungu district hospitals are on strike.