Forty clinics in Nakuru lying idle due to lack of staff

Nakuru has over 40 unused health centres built either by the county government or through the Constituency Development Fund (CDF).

This has been occasioned by failure to recruit staff to run the facilities, which are worth millions of shillings. Some of the health centres have been lying idle for up to three years.

Chief Executive for Health Mungai Kabii confirmed the sad state of affairs and explained that the county was in the process of resolving the staffing problem. According to him, the county government put up 28 health centres while the MPs, through the CDF, constructed 13, none of which is operational.

Dr Kabii said he expected all the centres to be open by December when the county will have hired the required staff.

“The equipment for these centres is available and the main reason operations stalled was the high wage bill, which barred us from hiring. But this has now been resolved,” he said.

Naivasha sub-county has the highest number of health facilities, with five lying idle.

According to the Naivasha Professional Association CEO Absolom Mukhusi, lack of planning, consultation and competition were to blame for the crisis.

Mr Mukhusi noted that since the county government took over, very few medical staff had been employed.

“Last month, the Naivasha MP constructed a health centre in Kinamba centre without consultation and it’s currently lying idle,” he said.

Lakeview MCA Simon Wanyoike, whose ward is also affected, blamed lack of staff for the dormant facilities.

“We built a health centre in Kayole two years ago but it has been lying idle due to lack of personnel. But we are looking forward to starting it soon” he said.

Recently, Nakuru County Deputy Governor Joseph Ruto said there was no need for more health centres when there were no workers to run them.

 83,000 doctors

“As a county, we are committed to improving health services and this can be addressed through employing more doctors and nurses,” he said.

A recent survey by the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union showed that the country requires 83,000 doctors to meet World Health Organisation standards. The study revealed that the country’s doctor-to-patient ratio stands at 1:17,000 against the recommended WHO standards of one doctor to 1,000 patients.

According to the survey, the country is losing 25 doctors every month, dealing a major blow to the public health sector.