- Accuse MoH and BHPC of delaying their practising licences
SESUPO RANTSIMAKO
Scores of Batswana physiotherapy graduates are idling amid alleged delaying tactics by the Ministry of Health (MoH) and the Botswana Health Professions Council (BHPC) in issuing practising licences.
According to the spokesperson of over 100 such graduates, Kago Mmapatsi, their numbers have been accumulating from various graduation intervals at different institutions since 2019.
Speaking in an interview, Mmapatsi stated that MoH and BHPC are responsible for facilitating a pre-requisite examination that is one of the compulsory standards for obtaining a practising licence, the two have not been coming forward to do so.
Shoddy and unfair treatment
The “injustice”, he added, stems from excessive delays by MoH and BHPC in releasing the dates for the examinations. He also spoke of shoddy and unfair treatment of the graduates by MoH after meetings to resolve the issue.
“With a critical shortage of physiotherapists in the country, it is imperative that these skilled professionals are allowed to contribute to the health sector,” Mmapatsi said.
“We suspect that the government is using unqualified people to examine the graduates because when we raised questions about how our examiners are selected, we never got a clear answer.”
Demonstration not held
MoH appealed to them not to go ahead with a planned demonstration early last month promising to address their concerns.
A letter from the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Oatlhokwa Nkomazana, apologised to the graduates and attributed delays in issuing practising licences to BHPC’s lack of resources.
“We have since moved swiftly to rectify the situation and ensure that going forward, the BHPC is more resourced and empowered to operate more efficiently,” the letter stated.
“The issue of exam content and structuring will be brought to the attention of both BHPC and the board for action.
Unprofessionalism
“We have also noted concerns you raised about inefficiencies, unprofessionalism and inconsistencies on application of standards at BHPC.
“We will engage the BHPC board and the registrar’s office so that the issue is addressed as soon as possible.”
Reached for comment, the Registrar of BHPS, Dr Malebogo Charles, stated: “BHPC acknowledges the delay that occurred and we have moved swiftly to rectify the situation.”