Court Orders Striking Doctors Back to Work

Court Orders Striking Doctors Back to Work

Court Orders Striking Doctors Back to Work

Doctors from the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists, and Dentists Union (KMPDU) were ordered to return to work on Wednesday in order to handle emergencies by the Employment and Labour Relations Court.

Judge Byrum Ongaya’s ruling mandated that KMPDU make sure physicians from various cadres are available in public hospitals to handle medical emergencies. The decision puts an end to the March 13–starting doctors’ strike.

The doctors and the government came to a return-to-work formula within 30 days and that was reported to the judge.

The impasse had been causing increasing public unrest, with patients suffering the most.

Members of Parliament were informed by Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumincha that a Ministry of Health assessment revealed that the doctors’ strike had left referral hospitals operating at only 33% capacity for outpatients and a much lower 25% capacity for specialist services.

The breakthrough comes as legislators on Wednesday, put Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumincha to task to answer why the government has yet to find a resolution to the CBA, but the CS insisted at the national level, the government has done its part, especially to meet the doctor’s demands regarding the 2017 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

The healthcare crisis has gotten worse as a result of the national, county, and KMPDU governments’ growing impasse.

The doctors argue that the government has not honored a 2017 CBA, which is at the center of the conflict.

The government claims that budgetary limitations prohibit them from fulfilling the doctors’ demands, but CS Nakhumicha said that negotiations are in progress for a new CBA.

As senators questioned him, Nakhumicha stated that the government was willing to engage in negotiations because the agreement from 2017 was deemed to have expired.

Current negotiations are complicated by the government’s alleged signing of the first agreement under coercion, which has drawn criticism.

The secretary general of the KMPDU, Dr. Davji Atellah, has publicly criticized the government’s position on financial constraints and suggested that before claiming that there is a financial crisis in healthcare, officials should reevaluate their own pay. “We’re prepared to jump into this balloon and let go of it,” Atellah declared, highlighting the doctors’ unwavering resolve.

During a meeting with union leaders last year, including Treasury officials, Nakhumicha reaffirmed the government’s intention to carry out the provisions of the CBA that was signed between 2017 and 2021. This includes giving healthcare workers employed by the federal government full medical coverage and paying basic salary arrears.

However, a disjointed response has resulted from the national government shifting some duties to the counties.

Under the leadership of Anne Waiguru, the Council of Governors (CoG) has declined to assume the financial burden of the 2017 CBA, claiming that doing so would establish a precedent that would impact all county employees.

Waiguru made the point that additional funding from the national treasury is needed in order for the counties to implement the CBA. “The ripple effect on all civil servants’ basic pay is untenable without further support,” she said.

The government and counties are under growing pressure as the strike goes on, despite the seeming impasse. The Council of Governors declared that it will discipline the doctors who are on strike. Sixty doctors have already been fired by some counties, like Nyeri.

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