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By Own Correspondent | Hurungwe – Nurses around Hurungwe joined the strike that saw Karoi referral district shut down on Monday.

The district hospital covers 32 clinics under Hurungwe district and had no nurses on Monday as they press Government to increase their salaries.

Some patients were discharged in all wards and there was no one at the outpatients department.

Sources said the hospital was forced to shut down when nurses did not report for duty on Monday.

There were a few who did go. But those “few who came here never attended to patients and they went home after mid-morning,’ said one of our sources who declined to be named.

Patients’ relatives blamed Government for what they said was a selective approach in solving the salary crisis among other civil servants.

‘Government should have an across-the-board payment plan for all civil servants or on a sliding scale within a quarter,’ said Petros Mudenga.

Some relatives said due to the economic crisis, they can-not afford alternative medical assistance from private doctors.

“Some patients went away after they found out that no nurse was coming to attend to them” said one official at the hospital.

Matrons were attending to patients although they were being overwhelmed.

“Generally, matrons are supervisors and cannot do anything without nurses. We had District Medical Officer Doctor Mutisi attending expecting mothers at the maternity wing for a few minutes but she is no longer there,” added one of our sources.

Karoi District Hospital cares for critically injured travellers from accident-prone Harare-Chirundu highway.

There was no official comment from provincial Medical Director Doctor Wenclius Nyamayaro at the time of writing.

Zimbabwe Nurses Association, Zina accused Government for paying them low salaries.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration was greeted by a month long strike affecting the health delivery system without vital medicine and other facilities at a time when the Government was splashing millions of dollars on expensive cars for traditional chiefs, district administrators, as well as Zanu PF party regalia ahead of the upcoming July 2018 elections.