Concern as Parirenyatwa Hospital catches 11 bogus doctors this year

HARARE – The Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals has this year dealt with 11 cases of bogus doctors, tutors, and thieves taking advantage of the large number of staff and complexity to infiltrate.

Last year, the hospital said it caught 33 individuals masquerading as employees with malicious intents to fleece unsuspecting patients.

“In 2023 alone, 33 offenders were picked up by our Security Department. From January 2024 to date, 11 cases of this nature have been picked up by the same department and dealt with accordingly.

“Bogus Doctors, bogus tutors who extort prospective student nurses and thieves who steal from both staff members and patients are some of those criminals who have been picked up and handed over to the police,” the hospital said in a statement on Tuesday.

Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals has close to 400 Doctors of all professional levels and a total staff establishment of close to 4 000, it said.

“Unscrupulous people take advantage of our vastness and complexity to carry out nefarious activities. Fortunately, our Surveillance Teams remain vigilant and have always apprehended these unruly elements who try to penetrate and abuse our systems,” said the hospital.

In April alone, three fake doctors were intercepted at the hospital but authorities allayed fears that the conman managed any patient.

“We would like to assure members of the public that the investigations carried out by the hospital have established that the 3 recently arrested fake Doctors did not manage any patient. Our Surveillance Teams shall continue to flush out criminals bent on abusing public trust in our institution,” said the hospital.

Last week, a fake doctor was arrested at the hospital barely a fortnight after another man masquerading as a gynecologist was nabbed by an alert security officer.

On April 15 this year, Andrew Mapulanga (52), was arrested at Parirenyatwa Hospital and subsequently appeared before Harare magistrate Dennis Mangosi facing a charge of possessing articles for criminal use.

Ten days later, Blessing Nyanzira (24) was arrested at the hospital as he tried to walk past a staff security checkpoint during the lunch hour break.

Nyanzira wore a scrub jacket inscribed “Blessing Nyanzira” and had a stethoscope on his neck. New Ziana