Health workers differ on Usi rebuking nurse
Physician Assistants Union of Malawi and Society of Medical Doctors in Malawi have said they will report Vice- President Michael Usi to the Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) for rebuking a nurse in Chikwawa and allowing the media to film the encounter.
Paum president Solomon Chomba accused Usi of causing psychological trauma and embarrassment to the nurse and other h e a l t h worke r s a t Chikwawa District Hospital by reprimanding them in public.
Usi, who was in the Southern Region last week, paid a surprise visit to Chikwawa District Council where he cautioned civil servants against reporting late for duties and threatened that government would not hesitate to dismiss such employees.
However, in an interview, Chomba said while they appreciate what Usi is doing to revive the civil service through the surprise visits, they feel that interacting and filming health workers live on camera breaches the rights of their members to privacy, confidentiality and professional ethics.
He said: “As we are talking, our members who were confronted by the Vice-President live on camera have suffered embarrassment and psychological trauma, which has also eroded the trust Malawians had for them.
“This on the other hand endangers their right to life through unprecedented community action against them in case medical errors happen in the facilities our members are working.”
Chomba said they recommend that the Vice- President should consider adhering to the ethics of their members and strictly observe their privacy and confidentiality even as the union also advises health workers to discharge their duties professionally.
MHRC director of civil and political rights Peter Chisi said in a written response yesterday that they were yet to receive the complaint from healthcare workers’ professional bodies and would act on it once they have it.
“We are ready to investigate the complaint once we appreciate its status from the umbrella bodies,” he said.
Director of communications in the Office of the Vice-President Pilirani Phiri said he will take the health care workers’ concerns to the attention of the Vice- President.
He said: “We will certainly have a discussion with them to fully understand their concerns.”
But Society of Medical Doctors in Malawi president Victor Mithi differed with Chomba, saying reprimanding workers while on duty is not necessarily an ethical issue, but falls within the confines of employer and employee relationship.
He argued that filming hospital premises becomes an issue where patients are captured in the footage and, in such cases, there is need to get full consent from both patients and the hospital management.
“We advocate that healthcare workers should know their responsibility and report to work on time. If the Vice-President issued a verbal warning, then that falls within the boundaries of medical procedure,” he said.
However, speaking after making a surprise visit at Chikwawa District Council offices and Chikwawa District Hospital last week Wednesday, Usi said most civil servants report for duties as they wish, defying the official Malawi Government working hours from 7.30am to 4.30pm.
