Counties ought to address doctors’ grievances

Kenya: The state of Government-owned hospitals in most parts of the country is wanting, especially after doctors and nurses resorted to issuing threats of industrial action to various county government authorities over myriad concerns, ranging from poor pay, poor working conditions and lack of medical stores.

Because many county governments have not addressed issues raised by medical personnel, there has been an exodus of doctors from Government hospitals, which only makes matters worse.

A majority of poor Kenyans depend on Government hospitals for treatment because of the fairly cheap charges as opposed to private hospitals. Unfortunately, lack of medicines and a slow process in serving patients have driven them away, compelling many of them to resort to self-diagnosis and purchases of 'over the counter' medication from pharmacies.

The alarming thing is that some of the pharmacies not only operate without licences, they have unqualified staff and sometimes sell drugs that have expired.

Besides the illegal pharmacies, there is a mushrooming of clinics in small trading centres and villages that operate without licences, thus posing danger to patients who frequent them for services.

Last week, the Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board carried out surprise checks on clinics in Kakamega, Busia, Bungoma and Vihiga counties and managed to close down 45 hospitals and arrest 29 people who were pretending to be doctors. Getting rid of illegal clinics across the country is welcome, and the exercise should not just be stepped up, it should be sustained to protect unsuspecting patients.

While the purge on illegal clinics and pharmacies goes on, county governments must address the many issues that have stalled operations in hospitals to restore normalcy.

The procurement process, which takes too long and accounts for the shortage of medicines in Government hospitals, is in dire need of streamlining. There are cases where requisitions for drugs take more than two months before the medical stores are supplied to hospitals.

County governments have budgets for improving medical facilities and there is no reason why patients should suffer and seek attention elsewhere unless it is within their means to do so.