By Talent Gondo

Patients in dire need of health services have been stranded at Harare Central Hospital following a strike by junior and middle level doctors.

The strike, which has left one of the country’s main health institution struggling to cope with the health services needs of patients has seen the hospital administration adopting measures that include closing wards C2 and the Out Patients Department due to the limited health personnel available.

According to a circular issued by the health institution glimpsed by Zim Eye, the hospital’ s Out Patients Department is temporarily closed with casualty officers attending to emergencies only while staff from the OI Clinic have also been instructed to participate in emergencies.

Due to the limited staff available, the hospital has also temporarily closed Ward C2 only attending to a few special cases.

Speaking to Zim Eye,  the patients, most of whom had been referred to the institution from as far as Mutoko, Shamva and Mhondoro were left stranded as health personnel were only attending to emergencies.

The patients called on the ED Mnangagwa led administration to walk the talk and improve service delivery especially in the health sector.

“This is what we get in the 100 days? We were here since last night but we have not been attended to,” said one patient from Mutoko who refused to be identified, confirming that they had been told to go home since the hospital was only attending to emergencies.

The first lady, Auxilia Mnangagwa conducted a countrywide tour of the country’s  health institutions unannounced soon after her husband ED Mnangagwa was inaugurated as the President of Zimbabwe.

Her visits however exposed the poor service delivery at most hospitals where patients spend hours on end without being attended to.