By A Correspondent- The Health Services Board (HSB) has removed 1 032 nurses from the payroll after they refused to resume normal working hours and insisted on the continuation of the flexi-working arrangement.

He said the nurses who are not working the normal hours will not be paid and the board has instituted disciplinary action against them. Said Sikosana:

We have removed 1 032 nurses from the paysheet. They defied a Government directive and we were left with no option.

The affected nurses, most of who were on the staff of central hospitals, face a variety of penalties depending on charges and circumstances.

These include dismissal or being placed on fixed-term contracts if they return as part of a proposed restructuring of the public health sector.

The HSB employees between 16 000 and 18 000 nurses and this imply that less than 8 per cent of the nursing staff will be affected by the twin developments.

Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa told a post-cabinet media briefing on Tuesday that the Zimbabwe Nurses Association (ZINA) has defied Government’s directive to terminate the flexi hours arrangement which has left authorities with no option.-statemedia