Audit proposes massive restructuring at National Health Insurance Fund

An independent audit of the multi-billion shilling National Health Insurance Fund has recommended far-reaching measures to restructure the organisation.

The audit by a human resource consultancy firm, Deloitte, revealed that most NHIF employess are placed in jobs that do not match their skills and academic training.

NHIF Board Chairman Mohamud Ali, who officially received the report yesterday, announced that redeployment of staff to positions that match their skills will start immediately.

He added that there will also be rationalisation of employees in all the 98 offices of the fund across the country to correct imbalances in staffing.

Mr Ali said the restructuring will enable the organisation handle additional responsibilities such as enhanced revenues as well as social health insurance and outpatient cover, which will be rolled out soon.

"This audit will serve as a basis of reforming the staffing of the fund and also building internal capacity to handle the envisaged broader mandate of the fund," said Ali at NHIF headquarters in Nairobi.

Service delivery

He was accompanied by board members and other top managers.

The audit was commissioned by NHIF to enable the organisation examine its human resources capacity and propose ways of maximising it to boost service delivery.

He added: "We want to have the right staff at the right place to enable us deliver the services that Kenyans are expecting from us. But we don't intend to retrench staff members; they will only be redeployed in line with their competencies and needs," he said.

The audit report indicated that the staff-responsibilities mismatches had adversely affected service delivery at organisation.

It cited recruitment of new members and paying out of medical claims as some of the most affected areas.

"This audit aims to turn the fund into a vibrant organisation with a motivated human resource and a responsive organisational structure that can facilitate efficiency and prudent management of resources," said Fund CEO Simeon Ole Kirgotty.

The audit has also recommended that NHIF be split into four directorates, namely corporate services, strategy planning and marketing, finance and investments and operations and quality.

"Senior management positions will be filled competitively in the coming weeks," said Mohamud.

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NHIF Deloitte