Parirenyatwa Hospital
By Tinashe Javangwe
President Emmerson Mnangagwa has signed into law the Health Services Amendment Bill which introduces new provisions to regulate government health workers conditions of service and ultimately enhance provision of quality health services to the nation.
Chief among the new provisions is the prohibiting of prolonged strikes by health workers, a government’s move to guarantee availability of services to patience seeking medical attention in public hospitals.
In the past, industrial job action by health workers had no time restrictions hence could drag uninterrupted for long periods, putting lives of patients in danger.
The new law now provides that any job action by health workers should not exceed three days and a 48 hour notice should be given prior to the commencement of the strike.
“No collective job action, whether lawful or unlawful, shall continue for an uninterrupted period of 72 hours or for more than 72 hours in any given 14-day period and notice of any collective job action must be given in writing 48 hours prior to the commencement of such collective job action,” reads the Act.
While acknowledging workers’ constitutional right to strike, and seeking a balance with patients’ constitutional right to primary healthcare, government has made it mandatory that during job action, health workers must provide the skill, expertise, care and service to patients in a medical emergency or needing critical or intensive care.
Section 65(3) of the Constitution says “except for the members of the security services, every employee has the right to participate in collective job action, including the right to strike, sit in, withdraw labour and to take other similar concerted action, but a law may restrict the exercise of this right in order to maintain essential services. “
According to Section 16A of the Act, health services shall be deemed an essential service as defined in the Constitution, hence the restrictions.
“Notwithstanding anything in the Labour Act, the Health Service shall be deemed as an essential service referred to in section 65(3) of the Constitution.”
The Health Services Amendment Act also criminalises inciting or organising collective job action in defiance of the new conditions, a crime that will attract a fine up to level four or custodial sentence of six months.
Another notable new provision is the upgrading of the Health Services Board to the Health Services Commission which will now independently set health workers’ conditions of service, a setup used by the Police, Judiciary and Defense Forces.
This means health workers have been weaned from the Public Services Commission which governs the civil service conditions of service.
The ammendment of the Health Services Act comes on the backdrop of a raft of measures directed by government towards the improvement of conditions of service for government workers.
Among the provisions are non-monetary incentives including duty exemption permits, vehicle and housing loans; institutional accommodation, transport, as well as continuous review of salaries.
