04 Feb 2015

The Ministry of Health says it has put plans in place to address the shortage of doctors and nurses around the country.

Responding to a question in Parliament on February 3, Assistant Minister Alfred Madigele said, “remedial plans are in place to address the shortage of doctors and nurses throughout the country including in clinics such as Block 8, Sebele and Tsogang.

MP for Gaborone North, Mr Haskins Nkaigwa had asked him whether there were any plans to address shortage of doctors and nurses at Block 8, Sebele and Tsogang Clinics in Gaborone. For doctors, Dr Madigele said  the ministry was continuously recruiting both locally and internationally.

However, he said retention of doctors was a challenge due to competition for their services both regionally and internationally.He said to address health workforce shortages the ministry has developed an attraction and retention strategy which is still waiting for review by the Directorate of Public Service Management.

“My ministry is also engaged in a national exercise of rationalisation of doctors to ensure equitable distribution of this scarce human resource,” said Dr Madigele.He said Tsogang Clinic is covered daily by doctors while Block 8 and Sebele Clinics are covered once a week. He added that nurses in Block 8, Sebele and Tsogang Clinics are adequate as per the ministry’s staffing norms. ENDS