Deserted wards, long queues, slow service if any and family members evacuating patients were the scenes witnessed Tuesday in public hospitals countrywide.
Poor patients seeking medical services in the facilities endured pain and agony on the second day of the nurses and clinical officers’ strike.
A spot check by the Star found patients abandoned and others forced to go home as the medics kept away.
The nurses and clinical officers began their strike on Monday, citing nonpayment of allowances and lack of protective gear for safety from the coronavirus.
In Kitui, operations in most facilities were disrupted as medics kept off their workplaces.
Patients who had been admitted to hospitals and health centres were from Monday discharged and allowed to go home or seek treatment in private health facilities.
Those few who remained in the hospital were left to their own devices and were only taken care of by relatives as no nurses were available to attend to them.
Governor Charity Ngilu said health services across the county had been affected. She was optimistic that a solution would be found sooner.
“We have scheduled a meeting of all governors to seek a solution to the industrial action. The problem is that the counties had not previously factored in a budget that caters for what the healthcare workers are asking for. We have, however, to get a way out,” Ngilu said.
The Kenya National union of Nurses Kitui chair Newton Kimanzi said that nurses would stay home until the government meets their demands.
“Mind you this is an issue we have no control over at the county level. It is being steered by our national office who will give us advice on when to go back to work once our demands are met,” Kimanzi told journalists by phone.
In Homa Bay, the situation was the same as the facilities remaining deserted.
KNUN Homa Bay acting executive secretary Omondi Nyonje told members not to report to work until all their grievances are addressed.
“The UHC workers and nurses are greatly affected. Most of them have not received their full salaries,” Nyonje said.
The nurses want the government to provide them with comprehensive medical cover. They also want sufficient personal protective equipment and timely salary payment.
At the Homa Bay County Referral Hospital, health services were still being provided on Monday morning but at a slower pace.
Residents said they had waited on the queue for long without being attended to.
Others who were helping patients convalesce in the wards were transferring them to private health facilities. Wards 2, 5 and 8 were empty after patients left.
“I’m taking my mother to a different hospital before it is too late. It is dangerous for a patient to be in hospital when the nurses are away,” Veronica Atieno said.
County Health chief officer Gerald Akeche said medics have not reached his office for any negotiations on ways of averting the strike.
“Some of the issues I have heard them raise over the media are national matters which are being handled at both levels of government. We may try and sit down with them and negotiate ways of helping patients,” he said.
The strike was also on in the Rift Valley counties of Uasin Gishu, Trans Nzoia and Nandi where nurses and clinical officers kept off their work stations.
Simon Kibii, Uasin Gishu nurses’ union representative, said the medical workers have the right to picket to be able to offer services effectively.
“We have for long asked counties to address the plight of health workers but we have been ignored since devolution took off,” Kibii said.
He said Covid-19 was the greatest risk to the lives of health workers and other Kenyans hence the need for the government to respond to their demands.
Journalists were barred from the Uasin Gishu County Hospital by guards who said they were following orders from the Health executive Everlyne Rotich. The executive could not be reached to comment on the matter.
At the Kapsabet County Referral Hospital, many patients who turned up for health services said they had been ignored, forcing some to seek treatment elsewhere.
Elgeyo Marakwet Governor Alex Tolgos urged all health workers to resume work as their demands were being addressed.
“No one can ignore the plight of the workers but this is not the time to expose Kenyans to more suffering,” Tolgos said.
Patients at the Kitale County Referral Hospital also complained of being neglected by medical workers on strike.
In Kisumu, the Kenya Union of Clinical Officers’ representative said they will down their tools next week Tuesday unless their demands are addressed.
Branch secretary Crause Okumu said despite the government receiving their demand letter and strike notice, it had done nothing.
Okumu said it was unfortunate that there was no solution to their demands.
He said their grievances, which include safety and welfare, should be addressed to avert the strike.
Okumu told journalists on Tuesday that their members are dying at a very high rate.
“It’s so frustrating and demoralising at this particular time of this pandemic that the frontline workers have to go on strike yet the BBI drive is being given priority,” he said.
Okumu said they have so far lost nine clinical officers while more than 763 in public and private facilities have been infected by Covid-19, where 37 cases are still active.
“We are tired of the same rhetoric because our clinicians are dying. It is high time the government should address our issues,” he said.