Find lasting solution to medics crisis in counties

While devolution came with many benefits, there has been a lot of unease in the medical services, something that has greatly compromised the quality of work. It is worrying that there has been an exodus of doctors and nurses from government hospitals.

The reasons for discontent among health workers have been documented in the Journal of Psychiatry while the Kenya National Union of Nurses says over 3,000 of its members have requested to leave.

Older, more experienced doctors have left government service for greener pastures and private practice, leaving hospitals to doctors who have little or no experience at all.

This may to a large extent account for the declining standards of service in government-run hospitals and the proliferation of private hospitals and clinics in the country.

Most medics work for long hours without basic facilities and in hospitals that don’t even have drugs. To compound this, there is a general feeling among medics that their pay is inadequate.

Last week when workers of the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital took to the streets to decry poor working conditions, they were teargased and arrested. Medics have also downed their tools to protest late payment of salaries by several county governments, who they claim cannot run medical services competently.

It’s time all stakeholders sat together to find lasting solutions before this crisis gets out of hand.