MINISTERIAL STATEMENT ON THE ROADMAP FOR THE RECRUITMENT OF 11,200 HEALTH WORKERS UNDER THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH
By Hon Sylvia T. Masebo, MP
March, 2022
Madam Speaker, I thank you very much for granting me this opportunity to issue a Ministerial statement following your directive that, “the statement should be made this coming Friday so that the people of Zambia are informed and there is clarity on the 11, 000 medical personnel that is going to be employed.”
From the outset Madam Speaker, I wish to state that I have not yet sought cabinet approval of what is contained in this statement. The aspirations guiding this statement is to respond to the questions raised on this floor regarding the recruitment of the 11, 200 health workers, and to build consensus around the process.
Madam Speaker, I am delighted to inform the House, and the Zambia people, that His Excellency, Mr. Hakainde Hichilema, the President of the Republic of Zambia, promised that the New Dawn Government will this year provide for and support the recruitment of 11, 200 Health workers.
Madam Speaker, the New Dawn administration has set the goal of achieving good health and well-being for all Zambians in keeping with the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) agenda and in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This unprecedented recruitment process will enhance health systems. As you are aware, Madam Speaker, Human Resource is at the pinnacle of effective Health Systems.
The New Dawn administration has set out an allocation amounting to Nine Hundred and Thirty Million, One Hundred and Fifty – Four Kwacha (K930, 154, 000.00) to equitably employ and deploy 11,200 health workers countrywide in a bid to transform the health sector in real terms and achieve Universal Health Coverage.
Madam Speaker, The House may wish to note that the current number of health workers in the health sector stands at 63, 838 against the approved establishment of 139, 590. This leaves a human resource gap of 75, 752 which represents 56% of the approved establishment. This dire situation has for a long time negatively affected the delivery of quality healthcare services to the Zambian people.
Madam Speaker, with the recruitment of the 11,200 health workers, It is expected that the staffing levels of the Ministry of Health will increase from 63,838 (46%) to 75,038 (54%) of the approved establishment.
I wish to emphasize that the recruitment of these health workers does not only mean doctors and nurses. Health workers include among others, dental surgeons, midwives, clinical officers, laboratory personnel, pharmacists, physiotherapists, environmental health staff, mortuary attendants, Porters, drivers, cleaners and security guards. All these workers are equally important in the delivery of quality health services in the country.
You may wish to know, Madam Speaker, that the Ministry will utilize this process to normalize, through promotions, some of the longstanding challenges. For example, some eligible Senior Resident Doctors that have been receiving salaries of Junior Resident Doctors will have their plight resolved. Also, some of the Registered Midwives that have been receiving salaries of mere Registered Nurses will have their appropriate salaries resolved.
Madam Speaker, I must hasten to mention here that the specific numbers regarding each cadre per district shall be spelled out in the advert that shall run this month.
Madam Speaker, Government is very much alive to the challenge of health workers that have specialized in various disciplines but are still occupying lower positions on the pay roll due to lack of vacant and funded promotional positions. I am happy to inform the House and the nation at large that this problem, however, will be addressed during the 2022-2024 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF).
Madam Speaker, now allow me to outline the roadmap for the recruitment process:
Prioritization of Health Workers to be recruited
The Ministry of Health, through a consultative process with the Civil Service Commission, Public Service Management Division, Cabinet Office and Ministry of Finance has finalized prioritization of the 11,200 health workers to be recruited in 2022. Madam Speaker, I wish to report that the priorities are based on the actual human resource needs that are affecting the sector. These include having at least one qualified health worker at a facility where there was none, increasing the number of health workers where they were inadequate and having the right mix of health workers. The priorities have also taken into consideration equity in the distribution of the health workers identified to enable effective provision of health services to as close to the family as possible. Madam Speaker, this breakdown will be well appreciated when the advert, referred to above, is shared with the public.
Treasury Authority
Madam Speaker, I wish to state that the Treasury Authority for this recruitment process will be effective 1st April, 2022. I further wish to report that the modalities of issuing the Treasury Authority have advanced and is expected to be concluded before the end of March 2022.
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Madam Speaker, as you are aware, the New Dawn Government has embarked on a decentralization programme whose implementation thus far has seen reforms that have channeled resources to the lower levels. This is because these lower levels are the implementing agencies hence need to be empowered.
In the spirit of decentralization, Government, through the Civil Service Commission, will decentralize the recruitment of health workers. It is envisioned that the Civil Service Commission should advertise the recruitment of the 11, 200 Health workers within the month of March 2022.
Madam Speaker, in line with the principles of decentralization, I wish to report that all applications shall be made to the respective District Health offices. The details of the application modalities shall be contained in the adverts. Following the New Dawn Government’s aspirations in supporting family values, the decentralized recruitment process will help in curbing separation of families as applicants will be encouraged to apply where their families are, unlike when using a centralized recruitment model.
Human Resource Committees
Madam Speaker, I am glad to report to this House and the Nation at large that in order to enhance transparency and fairness in the recruitment process, Government, through the Civil Service Commission, has established Human Resource Committees at District and Provincial levels. These committees, with specific terms of reference, are multi – sectoral in nature and will spearhead this recruitment process.
In this regard, the District Human Resource Committees, in collaboration with other Government entities, will create a database of all applicants, scrutinize the various applications received within their respective districts, shortlist, select and recommend to the Provincial Human Resource Committees. The Provincial Human Resource Committees will then validate the work and, through the Ministry of Health, recommend to the Civil Service Commission. In undertaking these processes, preference will be given to applicants that have done volunteer work at public health facilities. This, however, does not mean that applicants that have not had the opportunity to volunteer at any of the public health facilities will be precluded from the recruitment process.
Madam Speaker, the Ministry of Health headquarters will work with Public Service Management Division and Regulatory bodies in ensuring that the recommendations received from the Provincial Human Resource Committees are in conformity with the required human resource best practices.
The Civil Service Commission will scrutinize all the recommendations made by the Provincial Human Resource Committees before appointing the successful candidates. The successful candidates will be expected to report for duty in April 2022.
Publication of Names
Once the appointments are made by the Civil Service Commission, the names of all successful candidates will be published in the state print media. The respective districts will also be required to stick the names of the successful candidates in the various categories. This will enable the public to remain informed and successful candidates to keep track on the timeframe within which to report to their respective stations.
Zero Tolerance to Corruption
Madam Speaker, one of the pillars of the New Dawn Government is zero-tolerance to corruption. Any officer involved in this process found to be unprofessional, caught soliciting for payments to favor anyone or who gets involved in any corrupt practices, shall be visited by the law. May I take this opportunity to inform the public to be wary of unscrupulous people who might be soliciting for bribes from applicants for any favors.
I wish to appeal to the public to instead, report such individuals to the police. I, therefore, wish to urge everyone that will be involved in this process to act fairly and professionally.
Madam Speaker, the Ministry will work with the security wings such as the Anti – Corruption Commission during the recruitment process in order to mitigate corrupt practices as well as enhance the integrity of the process.
It is my hope that I have provided a clear roadmap to this House and the nation at large on the recruitment of the 11,200 health workers in the Ministry of Health. It is also my hope that the decentralized model of recruitment process through the human resource Committee approach will provide an equal opportunity to every qualified health worker to be recruited in the Ministry of Health. Further, it is hoped that this model will increase transparency in the recruitment process for our health workers.
Madam Speaker, as a Government, we shall continue prioritizing human resource for health in order to help achieve the Universal Health Coverage agenda. This recruitment will not only improve the quality of healthcare but also reduce the backlog of unemployed frontline health personnel.
As I conclude, I wish to pay glowing tribute to health workers across the country for their sacrifice, gallantry and professionalism even in the face of challenging situations like the pandemic. With the resilience, industriousness and dedication to duty of the many healthy workers in our country, I am very confident that as a Team we are ready to take on any challenge that comes our way.
Madam Speaker, I thank you.