Medical Council of Malawi (MCM) has warned and fined eight medical practitioners and the office of director of health services in Mzimba over cases of misconduct, including negligence and practising without private licence.
MCM registrar and chief executive officer Davie Zolowere said on Saturday that the council heard 14 cases, notably 10 from public facilities, one from a Christian Health Association of Malawi (Cham) facility and three from private clinics.
Zolowere. | Nation
“Of the 14 cases, 13 resulted in guilty verdicts and one in not-guilty verdict,” reads the statement in part.
Those fined include two medical assistants at Happy Faces Private Clinic for practising without private licence and a clinical officer at the clinic for employing unlicensed medical workers.
The council has also issued written warnings to two clinical officers at Thyolo District Hospital for failing to document patient notes.
Further, three health workers at Mzimba District Hospital have been reprimanded for poor documentation, failure to adequately assess a patient before operation and providing anaesthesia against standard operating procedure potentially leading to patient’s death.
In addition, the office of medical officer and office of director of health services in Mzimba have been warned for inadequate oversight of medical practitioners and delayed referral of a patient.
Reads the statement in part: “[Mzimba District] Hospital management must develop strategies to ensure available practitioners carry out their duties as per the roster.”
Commenting on the decisions, Human Resources for Health Coalition chairperson Solomon Chomba attributed some of the issues to staff shortage and lack of functioning medical equipment.
“Health workers in public hospitals work more than 40 hours a week due to staff shortage and this leaves them at risk of medical errors,” he said.
Chomba asked MCM to intensify inspections in public health facilities to enforce standards and check that the hospitals have enough staff and medical equipment.
The Office of the Ombudsman’s annual report for 2023 revealed that complaints relating to health service delivery surpassed other sectors.
In a written response in June this year, Office of the Ombudsman spokesperson Mandy Pondani said the hospital ombudsman mechanism received a total of 14 897 complaints in 2024 out of which 7 089 were resolved.
The complaints received in 2024 represent a 38 percent increase from the 9 219 recorded in 2023.
