It is often said when two bulls fight it is the grass that suffers. This is the case in the current stand-off between the Botswana Doctors Union (BDU) and the Botswana Government – through the Department of Public Service Management (DPSM) – on the other side.
There is no question that its is important for the employer to constantly provide necessary environment for the employees to do their work well without any inhibitions or concern. This is even more serious if such work is about caring for the lives of individuals. Doctors carry the heavy weight of saving lives by healing the sick or wounded. They are often called often called to work at odd hours and sometimes even longer than the human body could bear. Yet they have often dug in and given it all to rescue and heal the most desperate.
We know the high level of dilapidation of our health infrastructure with most hospitals operating without the most basic of equipment. Take Princess Marina Hospital for example – the only referral hospital south of Dibete. The care and maintenance level of almost about anything that ought to be maintained leaves a lot to be desired. Patients often sleep in sheets, blankets and pillows that should have long been replaced. Various life saving machines are malfunctioning and even more serious they often have to outsource the X-ray machine; even when the patient’s life demands an immediate action.
Staff is highly demoralised – which is why we have seen them escaping in hundreds to the United Kingdom. In particular, it is the nurses that have taken this route. This doesn’t mean that our doctors could not have found placement abroad. It is for this reason that we ought to act with caution when they make a demand – which one would trust is reasonable. Even if the doctors were over board with their demands, the fact that they have to take care of human life warrants that the matter is handled with the necessary sensitivity.
Holding fort on the side of the people, government should exercise their power in such a way that any reasonable person would believe they acted in their best interests. Going to court as in the ongoing matter could have been appropriate. However, that perhaps should have been only to safeguard the situation from going out of hand. From there they should have taken the matter for negotiation at an arbitration level. Government has made its case that it doesn’t have enough financial resources at its disposal due to the decline in diamonds sales and now faces even more trying time with the US having imposed tariffs. The doctors are well educated to know what this means.
Seating down with the doctors’ union to hammer a win-win agreement where even as everyone waits for recovery in the economy, they understand that there is something to work hard for. A payment plan or some form of full commitment to addressing the situation is urgently required. The fear by the UDC government to sit across the table with the union is not well premised. The minister should not choose to talk to the doctors through a media conference. He has to fully engage and show the necessary level of empathy with the circumstances of his colleagues.
At risk are the lives that need to be protected. We are a nation that often prides itself with our consultation and engagement practices. The current stand-off doesn’t reflect that. The ball is in government’s court to play it wisely. Again, this is a government that is led by a human rights lawyer who has instructed his officials to desist from unnecessary litigation. Every Thebe lost in this case, should otherwise be going to at least one of the doctors