B y Correspondent
Mutare Council faces a health crisis as nurses continue fleeing the country with 43 out of 77 posts vacant.
The findings, revealed by the Auditor General’s report for 2023 reveal the abject state of the country’s health system.
“The Council was not able to retain its nursing staff.
“As a result, the Council clinics’ nursing requirements are operating below their minimum.
“Out of an establishment of seventy-seven (77) for five clinics, forty-three (43) posts were vacant.
The Great Trek To UK
The shortage of nurses in the country has been worsened by changes, mainly in the UK.
Post-Brexit and COVID-19 the UK has relaxed its laws as it seeks to attract skilled professionals.
This has resulted in an increase in work visas issued to foreign health and social care workers.
As a former colony of UK many Zimbabwean nurses have joined the bandwagon migrating there.
Between September 2022 and September 2023, over 20 000 Zimbabweans were given visas to work in the UK, according to Home Office data.
This reflected a 169 percent increase from the same period the year before according to an Al Jazeera report.
Currently Zimbabwe, alongside Nigeria and India has the largest number of citizens in the UK on this visa.
