Crisis deepens as doctors in referral hospitals join the ongoing strike

The crisis in public hospitals is set to worsen after doctors who have been working in referral hospitals announced that they are joining the ongoing strike.
On the day the doctors vowed to stay put, the court ordered them to appear for a meeting called by Head of Public Service Felix Koskei to resolve the crisis.
The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) on Wednesday announced a halt to all medical services at the Kenyatta University Teaching Referral and Research Hospital and all referral facilities countrywide.
Speaking at the hospital, KMPDU Secretary General Davji Atella said their intention was not to make patients suffer, but to push for better working conditions and implementation of agreed labour policies.
“We have resolved to close even the bare minimum services at KUTRRH until the hospital stops the casualisation of doctors through locum–short-term contracts that deny them dignity and pension,” said Dr Atella.
The move follows a proposal by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission to reduce medical interns salaries by 91% on Wednesday. This, the union says, contravenes a 2017-2021 collective bargaining agreement (CBA).
The union said the proposals would exploit medical interns who account for 30% of the workforce in the healthcare system. “If you check an intern’s logbook, you will be amazed by the amount of work they handle. They do everything. When the CS says interns earn a lot and request a review of interns salaries without involving us or the commission, it smacks of hypocrisy and malice.”
A document by the Ministry of Health and the SRC places a medical intern at the lowest end of cadres. The document proposes a stipend of KSh27,000 for the lowest earner and KSh70,000 for the highest.
But the union insisted that this proposals contradicts the ministry’s claim that it needs KSh4.9 billion to implement it’s annual internship programme. The union leaders said the figure by the ministry goes beyond it’s demands.
“We were given slots for 2,000 medical interns and we only need KSh1.4 billion to pay the interns in the current CBA rate. The internship policy and the CBA is locked. We are not going to be frustrated into revising the progress on the CBA backwards.
“The government has been lazy. We met the Ministry of Health on Monday only to realise they were playing ping-pong games with us,” Dr Atella said.
He cited the ministry’s plan to post medical interns on 1 April while simultaneously reducing their salaries by 91% as an example of ‘conmanship’ from the government side. He also criticised a recent meeting with the Ministry of Labour, claiming 18 lawyers were present with no concrete offer to the union.
Dr Malindi Chao, KMPDU Branch Secretary at Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital in Nairobi, said staffing levels are “nowhere close to World Health Organization Standards”.
“We have doctors who have been working on locums (temporary contracts) for the last seven months with no salary, yet they have responsibilities. We also have discrimination where doctors don’t get the same pay for the same job despite working more than 40 hours a week,” said Dr Chao.
And at the Employment and Labour Relations Court in Nairobi, Justice Byrum Ongaya ordered all parties in the standoff to appear at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre pavilion from 4.45pm.
Justice Ongaya said the meeting should provide an amicable solution to the ongoing strike and differences on intern doctors attachments and pay.
In the meantime, the judge said that those who will meet should endeavour to discuss the strike notices and how many doctors should be serving Kenyans when there is a countrywide strike.
The judge also directed the Federation of Kenya Employers, Central Organisation of Trade Unions and all governors to join the meeting.
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