Health crisis deepens as Nairobi Hospital doctors issue strike notice
Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists' Union (KMPDU) Secretary General Dr Davji Bhimji Atellah.
What you need to know:
- Exhausted, overworked, underpaid with no study leave, reduced medical cover and lack of career progression are some of the accounts you hear from doctors working in some private health facilities.
A crisis is brewing in the healthcare system, and health workers of the different cadres–young or old, have a description for it. For doctors working in public hospitals and are members of the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists, and Dentists Union (KMPDU), the crisis is the government's total disregard of a collective bargaining agreement signed on May 8.
Frustrated and tired, the doctors have threatened to down their tools in 12 days.
Exhausted, overworked, underpaid with no study leave, reduced medical cover and lack of career progression are some of the accounts you hear from doctors working in some private health facilities.
For those working at Nairobi Hospital, these explanations run deeper. Last year, the internal fights between members of the Kenya Hospital Association (KHA) and the facility’s board came into the limelight, with the KHA threatening to strike if the board did not vacate their seats.
The KHA members accused the board of, among other things, mismanagement of the facility and poor leadership. “It was a premier hospital, but it is going to the dogs because of corruption and greed. This is a total mess,” said Dr Job Obwaka, an obstetrician and gynaecologist at the facility. He has worked there for 40 years.
The issues spiraled from meetings to the courts, with the board led by Dr Chris Bichage pointing fingers at the doctors and accusing them of malicious attempts to tarnish the hospital’s reputation.
A doctor at the facility, who requested anonymity, recounted the events that led to doctors temporarily resuming work after initially threatening to strike in September
“When we put in a date for the special general meeting, it was thought that we would remove the board. So people said that we slowly go back to work so that patients are not diverted to other institutions. The court stopped it,” he says.
A further attempt to have their resolve to disband the board included as one of the agenda of the Annual General Meeting held barely two weeks ago was also stopped by the court.
Frustrated, and tired, KMPDU, KHA and registered doctors yesterday issued a seven days strike notice if the chairman of Nairobi Hospital, the entire board of directors, and the acting CEO, do not resign, citing a failure of leadership that has brought the hospital to the brink of collapse.
“Enough is enough. The public and the international community are hereby notified that, unlike the last time we issued a notice, this time doctors and nurses will not attend to patients in the wards or respond to emergencies. Laboratory staff, cooks, cleaners, security guards, porters, and morticians will also not work,” said Dr Davji Atellah, KMPDU secretary-general.
KMPDU described the state of the hospital as dire, highlighting the December 4 AGM as a particularly low point. The AGM turned into chaos, with the union saying that the hospital’s management allegedly presented impostors in white coats, falsely claiming to be hospital registrars, in an attempt to stifle dissent and maintain power.
"The Nairobi Hospital management has continued to harass and abuse our members, cutting their medical services under the guise of financial constraints, while stories of financial mismanagement spread through the corridors. The hard work of dedicated health workers is being exploited by a few individuals who have become overnight millionaires,” said the union’s leader.
Dr Mauro Saio does not come off as a labour agitator. A long-time specialist in tropical medicine, he has worked at the apex hospital since 1981. Things were great until they weren’t, he said. “This is my hospital and they are telling me to move away. I don’t like that. We want the board to resign or we take extreme measures,” he said during Tuesday's press conference.
Felix Osano, acting CEO at the Nairobi Hospital, in a statement, disregarded the strike notice, saying the health facility was yet to receive information of such intentions. “Contrary to the allegations, no strike notice has been issued by the hospital’s doctors. We maintain an open and constructive dialogue with our medical staff and continue to prioritise their needs to ensure a harmonious working environment,” he said.
He added that the hospital remains fully operational and continues to provide “quality healthcare services to all patients without disruption.”
Consultant doctors under the umbrella of the Admitting Staff Association, who are also threatening to go on strike, are not employees of Nairobi Hospital,” said Dr Bichage.
“They are independent contractors who use the hospital’s facilities to treat their
patients.”
The board's chair also refuted claims that the AGM was infiltrated by “hired” individuals as KHA describes them, saying that the participants, who were voting in new members into the board, included bonafide members of KHA.
“Those who voted included the Admitting Staff Association doctors and non-ASA members of the Kenya Hospital Association.”
