Patients seeking treatment at the Iten County and Referral Hospital and other health facilities in Elgeyo Marakwet county, and their relatives, have appealed to both the national and county governments to resolve the ongoing nurses’ strike.
Abraham Manyaro, a relative of a patient at ICRH said their kin was admitted on Friday but they had been forced to have him discharged as he was not receiving any treatment following the strike.
Manyaro, who had travelled all the way from Ziwa in neighbouring Uasin Gishu county, said they were told to return to the hospital on August 27 but he was not sure whether the patient will receive treatment by then, as it would depend on whether the strike will have been called off.
He feared that some patients who were discharged prematurely might have their conditions worsen or even die before treatment was available if the nurses’ strike continued for much longer.
He said while SHA was working, the government needed to address the nurses’ grievances to ensure that the Universal Health Coverage was a success by ensuring that the health personnel were serving at the health facilities at all times.
Another patient, John Suter, who has a wound on his leg, expressed his frustrations, saying he had been forced to return home without having his wound dressed due to the absence of the nurses.
“I was not even given an injection that had been prescribed, as I was told that the nurses are on strike. I am wondering who will dress my wound, given that I cannot do it at home,” he lamented.
The Secretary General of the Kenya National Union of Nurses and Midwives (KNUNM) Elgeyo Marakwet branch, Benson Biwott, called on nurses to stay put until their grievances are addressed.
Biwott said nursing is the backbone of the health sector, saying without nurses, there are no admissions nor surgeries in hospitals. He said that special units like the renal and ICU will remain closed.
While sympathising with patients, especially those who cannot afford private health facilities, Biwott regretted his members had no option but to continue with the industrial action to force the government to address their grievances.
“We are, however, ready for negotiations after the county government honours our 2017 return-to-work formula and signs the new 2025/29 CBA and deposits it with the courts. These are our bare minimums before we can resume duties,” he said.
By Alice Wanjiru
