KUCO accused the government of doing nothing to address the union’s grievances as the nationwide strike by clinical officers enters its 16th day, with services in public hospitals very disturbed.
On Wednesday, the health workers marched to the Ministry of Health offices to protest the stalled negotiations with the government. They want improved pay, full implementation of their Collective Bargaining Agreement, the signing of a return-to-work formula, payment of salary arrears for staff under the global health programmes, and absorption of UHC workers into permanent and pensionable terms.
KUCO Chairman Peterson Wachira and Secretary General George Gibore also said that the prolonged stalemate has grossly compromised service delivery across public health facilities, overstretching the capacity of other medics and negatively impacting patient outcomes.
Clinical interns have also complained of a lack of supervision, citing that the absence of senior clinicians puts patients in jeopardy.
The union leaders have called on Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale to urgently convene talks with a view to resolving the dispute and ending the industrial action.
