Doctors threaten massive boycott

At least 250 junior doctors throughout the country have given the government an ultimatum ­to increase on-call allowances by Friday or risk a daily boycott at major hospitals after 4pm, the ‘Daily News’ reported on Wednesday. The planned boycott comes during the festive season, a period with a high rate of road accidents and injuries. Dr Tatenda Mawire, president of the Hospital Doctors’ Association (HDA), said the doctors want their on-call payments calculated against their normal salaries.

In October, the government agreed on new allowances for overtime but the doctors said these payments amounted to very little after tax. The allowances were increased after a six-week strike by 400 junior doctors, which paralysed the health delivery system and forced Members of Parliament to intervene. The government promised then it would consider paying the doctors on-call allowances at overtime rates in January.

“The government has up to now failed to implement what it promised,” said Mawire. “We have decided to take action, that is, to work normal hours like everybody else, until the government pays us proper overtime rates.” The action would mean that doctors, mostly in Harare and Bulawayo, would work only from 8am to 4pm, not being on call beyond those hours. Mawire said district hospitals, usually staffed with one doctor each, were unlikely to be affected by the boycott.