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Medical trainees should be made to sign a memorandum of understanding that will force them to put delivery of services above money.
Participants at a forum to discuss the challenges facing the health sector said this would safeguard the profession against the impact of negative attitudes by medics that have seen some of them mishandle patients.
This was after health workers conceded there was widespread mistreatment of patients in public hospitals.
At the Kenya Health Forum 2018 organised by the Ministry of Health in Nairobi last week, participants agreed there was need to change their attitude towards patients.
“How come the same doctor or nurse is courteous to patients in a private facility but becomes recognisably hostile to those in public hospitals?” asked a participant during a plenary session on Wednesday.
The three-day forum brought together national and county health workers, non-government organisations and donors to discuss challenges in implementing universal healthcare.
Health workers’ negative attitude towards patients emerged as a challenge that could hinder patients from visiting public hospitals.
The forum came as the sector is still reeling from major surgical mistakes at Kenyatta National Hospital.
The cases involved a brain surgery mix-up and a Caesarean-section delievery alleged to have gone wrong at the referral facility.
System failure
The Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union has largely blamed overwork and system failure for the many malpractices being recorded in the sector.
However, during the Wednesday morning discussions at Laico Regency Hotel in Nairobi, health workers owned up to being part of the problem.
Participants suggested a retraining of health workers on positive customer care and attitude. They said negative attitudes were worse among new graduates entering the job market.
“They are coming in as if they are already tired,” said a participant.
This was partly linked to the constant boycotts that have rocked the sector, which health workers said may be demoralising and radicalising medical trainees.
“We stand in firm solidarity with all doctors, dentists and pharmacists in the fight for rights,’ the Medical Students’ Association of Kenya had stated while supporting last year’s prolonged doctors' strike.
A policy outlawing strikes by health workers has already been developed by the ministry. The policy emphasises health as an essential service that should be cushioned against strikes.
The User Guide on Employee Relations for the Health Sector in Kenya 2016 says no one should take part in a strike if engaged in an essential service such as health.
The policy, which is yet to be enforced, says health workers should draw a line between self-interest, politics and professionalism at all times.
While health workers' unions have cited the right to strike as enshrined in the Constitution, the ministry says the law disallows health workers from prejudicing the rights of patients.
The forum said the many reports of medical malpractices were undermining public confidence in Government health facilities. They also noted the sector was ill-prepared to implement universal healthcare.
A group presented by Catherine Maingi of the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority said the high cost of drugs and stock outs remained a major problem in the sector.
Delayed payment
“One of the problems in the counties is delayed payment for medical suppliers, which pushes patients to buy expensive medicines from the private sector,” she said.
Most of the patients who can’t afford the expensive medicines, the meeting was told, will in most cases opt out of treatment.
But it also emerged that counties had not been involved in planning for universal healthcare.
For example, the meeting heard that none of the 47 county assemblies, which are responsible for budgeting and expenditure, had been involved in planning so far.
The next Kenya Health Forum is scheduled for next year but some participants wondered when inputs from such forums would ever move from wish lists to implementation.
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