Economy

Hospital administrators fail in bid for share of Covid-19 perks

covid

A hospital in Kisumu County. FILE PHOTO | NMG

Hospital administrators have lost bid to get a share of perks provided under Covid-19 medical emergency allowance and benefits scheme worth Sh3.4 billion.

Through the Kenya Association of Health Administrators, the non-medical staff moved to court accusing the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) of discrimination for omitting them from the list of hospital workers entitled to the perks.

The association’s Lawyer Danstan Omari said the group was the only one excluded by SRC as the other 16 members of the Kenya Health Professional Society were considered for the Covid-19 medical emergency fund.

But Labour Court Judge Stephen Radido ruled that there were genuine occupational requirements to justify the decision by the government to exclude the administrators from eligibility for the allowances.

From the documents in court those eligible for the Covid-19 medical emergency allowance are doctors, dentists, nurses, clinical officers, community health officers, public health officers and the like.

Doctors, dentists and pharmacists are entitled to Sh20,000 monthly while nurses, clinical officers and laboratory technicians and technologists get Sh15,000. Public health officers, community health officers, radiographers, nutritionists among others got Sh10, 000.

The support staff such as cleaning supervisors and boilers assistants deployed in hospitals got Sh5,000.

“These health care workers are directly in the line of contracting Covid-19 on the basis of the patients they have to face directly in the course of work and not in the back office. The inherent requirements and risks of their duties are not comparable to those of hospital administrators,” stated justice Radido.