Mbarire raises alarm over impending medics strike

Mbarire raises alarm over impending medics strike

Runyenjes Member of Parliament, Cecily Mbarire, has warned counties of an impending crisis should doctors and nurses make true their threats and down their tools on Monday, December 5.

Mbarire has implored governors to reach out to the health workers with an aim of settling out their grievances in order to save the country from the imminent health crisis.

She sympathized with ordinary Kenyans who will bear the brunt of the stand off between county bosses and doctors on who is adhering to the constitution.

Mbarire has blamed the problems facing the health sector to lack of expertise in the counties and unpreparedness by the devolved units to manage the country’s health system.

According to the Runyenjes Legislator, the country unnecessarily hurried to hand over management of the health sector to the counties without allowing them enough time to build capacity.

“We devolved the entire health sector at once and this became a huge burden to counties. They did not have the required capacity,” Mbarire said.

She has advised the national government to take over Level Five and Referral Hospitals leaving only dispensaries and Level Four hospitals under county management until they develop adequate capacity to handle the whole health sector.

She castigated Governors for pressing the national government to leave all health facilities under their control without setting strong foundations.

Mbarire opined that health facilities ought to have devolved in phases starting with dispensaries followed by Level Four hospitals and finally Level Five and Referral hospitals.

Kenya Medical Practioners and Dentists Union (KMPDU) and Kenya National Union of Nurses (KNUN) gave a strike notice, to commence on December 5, protesting a pay structure that was released by Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC).

The medics discredited the set salaries structure saying it failed to reflect a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) they had signed with the government.

Written by Moses Ngugi

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Kenya National Union of Nurses (KNUN) Doctors and nurses strike Health Crisis Kenya Medical Practioners and Dentists Union (KMPDU)

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