Mzuzu nurses Boycott Locum over pay delays

Some nurses at Mzuzu Central Hospital have began boycotting locum over  management’s failure to pay them in full their June and July remuneration.

The nurses have since written hospital director Rose Nyirenda that they will only resume locum if the money is paid.

They have also demanded to be paid the August locum money by September 15 2015.

It costs the hospital K5.2 million per month to pay locum money, according to Nyirenda.

The Advanced English dictionary defines locum as someone who substitutes temporarily for another member of the same profession. For example, a locum physician is one who works in the place of the regular physician when that physician is absent, or when a hospital is short-staffed.

In a memo dated August 27, and directed to Nyirenda, the nurses blamed their management for “doing little effort to end this predicament as soon as possible”.

Stated the memo: “We have agreed on the following; We will not resume Locum until the June and July money is paid in full to each and everyone who participated in locum;

“The technical part in locum committee should be dissolved and we should choose our own. We will need August locum by 15th September, failing which, nurses will continue the locum boycott.”

In the memo, the nurses also dispelled assertions that their decision to boycott locum is meant to punish some quarters.

“It should also come to your attention that nurses are  not doing this to punish anyone but to let management know that having material resource without human resource is as the same as car without fuel, human resource should always be treated as a priority, and it should always be, ” concluded the memo.

But Nyirenda, while admitting that some nurses are boycotting locum, said the programme was being supported by governments of Norway and the Flanders, whose  support came to an end early this year.

She said the stoppage meant they could not pay locum for the months of May and June on time.

“We had to struggle looking for money because we didn’t have money in the ORT budget(other recurrent transactions).  We had a meeting with members of staff and pleaded with them to continue coming for locum so that we pay them when we get funding for the new financial year in July.

“Come early July, the ministry (Ministry of Health) gave us K8million which was a remainder of the Flanders money. So we managed to pay the May balance from this amount, but for June, we had to wait for the July funding which came toward the end of the month and we paid them,” explained Nyirenda.

According to Nyirenda, when the data is compiled by Ward managers, their supervisors counter-sign, before sending the data to a locum committee for scrutiny before finances are processed.

“There are also delays in issuance of the money. At first with the Flanders, we could prepare the cheques and nurses could receive the money in time. But now we have to submit vouchers, but cheques are prepared at Treasury.

“And sometimes we have delays where some wards do not submit the date in time and eventually everything delays,  ” she added.

Nyirenda further said the July vouchers were submitted to Treasury last week and “nurses should be receiving their money now”.