Economy

Patients’ pain spreads as specialist doctors join strike

strike

Striking nurses demonstrate outside the Ministry of Health offices at Afya House on December 8, 2016. PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE

The agony of patients is set to deepen as the 290 specialist doctors commonly referred to as “consultants” join their colleagues in a strike that enters the fifth day on Friday.

The consultants include specialists such as oncologists, dentists and psychiatrists. Together with the University of Nairobi medical school lecturers, the consultants have for instance been offering services at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) since the strike began on Monday.

On Thursday, they opted to join the national health workers’ strike that has so far seen about 20 patients die at various health facilities across the country.

“We are not interested in the return-to-work formula,” the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union Secretary-General Ouma Oluga told journalists on the KNH grounds on Thursday.

“The only thing that will get us back to work will be the implemented collective bargaining agreement (CBA) and payment of our three years’ arrears.”

Dr Oluga said they were aware the government wanted to sack them and that the doctors were ready to resign.

The union shrugged off the arrest warrants issued yesterday by the Employment and Labour Court Judge Hellen Wasilwa directing the OCS Kilimani police station to have the striking health workers’ union officials arrested and presented in court over the industrial unrest.

Dr Oluga said they had not seen the court orders or arrest warrants to that effect and only heard about them from the media.

The Council of Governors (CoG) had last week filed an urgent application at the Employment and Labour Court arguing that the strike was illegal since “it was in violation of labour laws”.

Dr Oluga however accused the government of being inhumane and trying to divert public attention and warned that the strike would only end after the 2013 CBA is implemented.

READ: Striking medics play hard ball after arrest order against officials

He acknowledged that the stoppage had caused great distress to the public but insisted that the action was for “a greater cause and the demand for change in health care”.

KMPDU has also threatened to shut down private and mission hospitals which are still operating by December 13.

According to the court orders, however, the union officials risk six months in civil jail for allegedly failing to comply with the court order.

The CoG had challenged the strike, saying it was never involved in the negotiations on the June 27, 2013 CBA.

“As a key stakeholder in county government affairs, we ought to have been involved in the CBA negotiations which the doctors want implemented as it relates to employees of counties,” said CoG lawyers on Wednesday.

CoG also claimed that the nurses’ union had not registered any dispute for conciliation before calling the strike, a requirement under the Labour Relations Act.

The Kenya National Union of Nurses secretary- general, Seth Panyako said they would not accept anything short of the harmonised CBA to address pay disparities in the sector. “Even at gunpoint we will not call off the strike. Our work is not to call for strikes every day,” said Mr Panyako.