The reports last week that medical doctors and specialists hiked their fees by more than 100 percent surprised many including medical aid societies, who are their major working partners. Increasing consultation fees from US$20 to US$50 and US$60 to US$120 respectively is not only uncalled for, but it is unjustifiable and unethical. We also learnt that from their association, the Zimbabwe Medical Association wanted the increase to be US$60.
The increases are unjustifiable since they are not supported by reality on the ground. Inflation has not risen and as some clients pointed out, these increases are not supported by increases in salaries for people who are formally employed.
If health delivery becomes a super profit-driven business at the expense of the patients' welfare, we ask who will stand for the patients' rights.
This is a case where we see that medical practitioners' responsibility to save lives going against the age-old Hippocratic Oath they swear, to practice medicine with integrity.
Thus we ask whether Zima's responsibilities are limited to the interests of health care professionals only, and not their clients.
By so doing, doctors are not only making it difficult for people seeking health care services to access them at a reasonable fee, but they are also denying the people seeking health care facilities the right to affordable health. The outrageous increase comes at a time when the health delivery system is struggling to provide decent services, just like other sectors of the economy.
We, therefore, ask how these increases will bridge that gap when most people cannot afford to pay for basic healthcare services at local Government clinics and public hospitals.
Who are the doctors trying to spite and why?
Another issue of concern is that most private practices have already been asking their clients to pay cash up front if they are on medical aid, arguing that most medical aid societies were not paying them on time. Some doctors also decided to reject certain medical aid societies, making it very difficult for most clients to access decent health care facilities.
Thus this increase will not only impact on medical aid societies, but they will also make accessing healthcare facilities a luxury for a few, which already is the case.
In trying to come to a common understanding about this outrageous increase, clients are asking what extra services doctors will be offering.
Will the consultations take longer and should consulting a doctor and getting a prescription form be so expensive, because not all doctors are fully equipped to carry out clinical tests and/or dispense medications?
In a majority of cases, doctors see clients at their surgeries for a few minutes. In some cases also, they do not give explanations to their clients unless they are asked.
When they charged US$20, doctors lost a lot of their original patients because they could not afford it, including medical aid societies. The statistics before the current increase are a testimony to that. So, what makes private doctors and specialists believe that these clients can now afford this higher fee? Why should they pass on overhead costs to their clients instead of highlighting the challenges they face to the relevant ministries?
The doctors also increased their consultation fees because of lack of gazetted tariffs.
Notwithstanding, the current increases will paralyse the healthcare system and also see doctors go out of business unless they take heed of what the health Minister Dr David Parirenyatwa advised regarding the tariffs that are to be gazetted: "A lot of work with regards to medical tariffs has been done already and very soon we would be gazetting the new tariffs.
"Once gazetted, the tariffs will be legally binding and we expect everyone to comply. The gazetted tariffs will be based on striking a balance between medical aid societies and service providers," he said. "They were also reached after wide consultations between both parties."
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