Public health services across the country have been disrupted after clinical officers made good their strike threat, forcing public hospitals to seek alternative ways of sustaining services amid growing concern over patient safety.
The nationwide strike, called by the Kenya Union of Clinical Officers (KUCO), took effect at midnight on Monday, with the union saying all its 8,000 members working in public hospitals have downed their tools.
At the centre of the industrial action are three key demands that the union says were agreed upon in a return-to-work formula during their last strike but remain unimplemented more than a year later.
KUCO Chairperson Peterson Wachira blamed the Ministry of Health and the Council of Governors for failing to honour a court order that outlined the return-to-work agreement. He accused the Council of Governors of reneging on the larger part of the deal, plunging the health sector into yet another crisis.
Among the union’s demands is the employment of additional clinical officers to ease workload pressure in overstretched public facilities. The ongoing impasse has left health facilities and patients at a crossroads, further compounding the strain caused by the ongoing doctors’ strike.
At Mbagathi Level 5 Hospital, management has resorted to engaging the services of locum staff to fill the gap left by the striking clinical officers. Hospital administrators say operations are continuing smoothly, with patients being attended to normally.
However, KUCO has raised concerns over the quality and legality of the services being offered, claiming that some of those engaged are interns who are not licensed and may not be legally accountable in case of medical complications.
The dual strikes by doctors and clinical officers have deepened uncertainty in public hospitals, raising fears of a prolonged health crisis unless an urgent solution is reached. Patients now face anxious waiting as negotiations stall, with hopes pinned on swift intervention to restore normal services and safeguard lives.
