11, 276 newly recruited health workers to be in the papers today

The Civil Service Commission and the Ministry of Health will today 29th July, 2022 publish the names of 11, 276 newly recruited health workers in the Zambia Daily Mail Newspaper and the list of general workers will be published on Sunday 31st July, 2022.

Civil Service Secretary Jean Chilengi announced that the health workers will collect their appointment letters from the Provincial Health Offices in respective Provinces starting 15th August, 2022 and start reporting for duty on 1st September, 2022.

“National Registration Card (NRC), medical certificate of fitness, and Police CID clearance report are the documents to be carried upon reporting for duty,” she said

“General workers include cleaners, drivers, darkroom attendants, kitchen handyman, laboratory attendants, mental attendants, office orderly and security guards just to mention a few,” she said

And Chairperson of the Civil Service Commission Peter Mumba noted that the overwhelming number of applicants undoubtedly had a huge bearing on the speed of processing which resulted in the national consolidation process to be faced with some challenges which contributed to the shifting of the timelines, leading to delays in announcing the successful candidates.

Mr Mumba added that the recruitment of health workers is very unique as it comes with so many variations of teams in each and every professional category and to unpack and disaggregate this was very involving.

“Some provinces were unable to fulfill quarters in certain categories such as dental assistant, radiography technologist, pharmacy technologist, clinical officer psychiatry, medical laboratory technologist, registered mental health nurse and nutrition technologist but this was however technically mitigated by considering the surplus applications from other provinces,” he noted

Despite all this, the recruitment exercise of the 11, 276 health workers were carried out in a transparent and professional manner and the process of meticulously and methodically selecting 11,276 health workers from the unprecedented 137, 129 applications countrywide was impartial, involving and provided a lot of lessons.

Mr Mumba highlighted that this initiative and process is premised on government’s aspirations to promote the delivery of quality health services to the people of Zambia.

“The recruitment exercise will be considered as a symbol of hope for the nation as it was a word by President Hichilema which has now been actualized and this process demonstrates the focus and sincerity of the New Dawn Government,” he said

He stated that the exercise was decentralised down to the Districts and was highly participatory as it was carried out according to the Service Commissions Act of 2016.

Mr Mumba explained that a multi-stakeholder technical working committee comprising officers from the Civil Service Commission, Ministry of Health, Public Service Management Division, Ministry of Finance and National Planning, and Management Development Division, was established to manage the strategic planning and communication of the recruitment exercise.

He added that the data collection and analysis undertaken by the Ministry of Health revealed the staffing needs at each health facility and was used as the basis for vacancy creation.

Mr Mumba highlighted that the swearing in and orientation of District and Provincial Human Resource Management Committees with the involvement of the Anti-Corruption Commission, Office of the President-Special Division and District Commissioners prepared the Committee for the selection and validation of health workers and ensured an efficient and professional health worker recruitment process.

“Officers from the security wings were part of the selection committees at District and Provincial levels which enhanced transparency and credibility of the process and obligated committee members to uphold confidentiality,” he said

He cited that the recruitment commenced with receipt of applications at District Health Offices and copies were also submitted to District Commissioners, a process that allowed for transparency and impartiality.

Mr Mumba alluded that in the spirit of promoting inclusiveness in the recruitment process, a total number of sixteen (16) persons with disabilities were selected.

“It must be noted by all that this recruitment process is not the last one but just a beginning, it follows therefore that those that have not made it this time, should not despair but remain hopeful and try again next time,” he stated

And Acting Minister of Health Chushi Kasanda said that in line with the Presidential pronouncement and the Parliamentary appropriation of k930, 154, 500.00 towards the recruitment of the health workers in the 2022 National Budget, the Ministry of Health working closely with the Management Development Division at Cabinet Office, the Public Service Management Division, and Ministry of Finance and National Planning developed a distribution structure for the 11,276 positions based on the Ministry of Health approved structure.

Ms Kasanda thanked all stakeholders that ensured the successful implementation of this mammoth exercise.

“Special thanks go to Cabinet Office, The Civil Service Commission, Public Service Management Division, The Anti-Corruption Commission, The Office of the President – Special Division and the Examinations Council of Zambia,” she said

She added that with regard to the persons living with disabilities who applied and met the minimum qualifications have all been selected.

Ms Kasanda stated that the Human Resource Management Sub-Committees carried out their mandate successfully and professionally by selecting suitable candidates in accordance with the set guidelines by validating and consolidating the Human Resource Management Sub-Committees’ submissions in accordance with the set terms of reference.

Meanwhile, stakeholders in the health sector have expressed anxiety on the recruitment of successful candidates to fill health workers positions after the announcement by the Civil Service Commission that names will be published today.

Biomedical Union of Zambia President Daniel Mwimbe stated that the list of the successful candidates should be published today without any further delay.

And the Unemployed Doctor Association Chairperson Wallace Ndumba says the publication of recruited health workers names will improve quality health care in Zambia especially that the country is short of health personnel which currently stands at 1 Doctor per 12,000 patients.