Patients accuse junior doctors of contradicting seniors

Patients at some government hospitals, especially, the country's central hospitals, have accused some junior doctors of contradicting instructions issued by senior doctors, thereby jeopardising their health.

Speaking to this reporter, several patients cited incidents in which they alleged that their health had been compromised when junior doctors ordered something that was contrary to what senior doctors had prescribed.

An elderly woman who recently had surgery at one of the leading central hospitals in Bulawayo alleged that the surgeon had ordered that her colostomy stitches be removed after four weeks, but a junior doctor instructed that they be removed at eight weeks.

"The surgeon made it very clear to me that the colostomy stitches should be removed after four weeks, as he is the one who performed the surgery, but a junior doctor later came and made his own instructions that the stitches be removed at eight weeks," alleged the bitter gogo.

She further alleged that she was now experiencing problems with her colostomy stitches as they had over-stayed.

"Why would a junior doctor contradict a qualified experienced surgeon? Is that normal? Is the government not placing our lives in danger by allowing this to happen?" queried the gogo.

Another patient who went through a similar experience at a central hospital in Harare concurred with the gogo's sentiments.

She alleged that she was admitted at the hospital after she had started bleeding whilst still at home in Harare's Sunningdale suburb, when she was seven months pregnant.

The lady who requested anonymity alleged that her ordeal started when she arrived at the hospital bleeding heavily.

"When I got to the hospital by taxi at around 4am, having started bleeding at around 1am, the staff at the hospital were indifferent to my plight. They just told me to sit on a chair, whilst they were busy talking.

" They never appeared to take my plight seriously. Later they then told me to lie on the examination table, after which I was sent to the Early Delivery ward, where I had a still birth.

"I have never forgotten that ordeal. But what even added insult to injury is the way junior doctors behaved during my seven day stay at the hospital", complained the lady.

She went on to allege that junior doctors would come up with their own instructions which were contrary to the senior doctors'.

" What made this all worse was the fact that the junior doctors, at times, would be openly reprimanded by their seniors during doctors' visits.

"At times I would feel like a guinea pig, because the junior doctors would be asked questions about my condition during the doctors' visits. Some will give the wrong answers, and the senior doctor would correct them

"However, what was so scary was that, most of the times, these very same junior doctors would do the rounds alone and prescribe what had to be done to us. That is dangerous. Is the government aware of this? I believe the constant health problems I've been experiencing ever since my stay there is due to this," lamented the angry lady.

Several other patients made similar complaints regarding the role of junior doctors and implored the government to look into this issue seriously, as people's lives were in danger.

Efforts to contact the relevant authorities had not yielded any results by the time of writing this article, but should we manage to get in touch, we will publish their response.