The government has called make-or-break talks with doctors this morning to strike an agreement to stop the nationwide strike.

In a letter seen by People Daily, the Ministry of Health has invited the doctors for talks to seek a solution to a raft of demands raised by the doctors, including the hiring of medical interns.

Today’s meeting, which has been convened by Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha, according to sources, is informed by apprehension within government that the planned doctors’ strike may jeopardise ongoing reforms in the health sector and the efforts towards achieving the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) programme.

In the letter, the CS acknowledges that the issues that have resulted in the strike, require dialogue.

“The purpose of this letter therefore, is to note the ongoing conciliation proceedings and in the meantime invite you, and other officials of the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentist Union for a consultative meeting scheduled for Monday 18th March, 2024 at the Ministry of Health Boardroom, 8am,” reads the letter addressed to Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentist Union (KMPDU) Secretary General Dr Davji Atellah.

It is also copied to Public Health and Professional Standards Principal Secretary Mary Muthoni.
Also expected to attend the talks include representatives from the National Treasury, the Ministry of Labour, the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) and the Council of Governors. Most of the affected health facilities are under the jurisdiction of governors.

Doctors yesterday maintained that so long as their demands are not addressed the ongoing industrial strike will go on as planned notwithstanding today’s meeting.

The nationwide strike kicked off last Wednesday despite an order issued by the Employment and Labour Relations Court suspending it to give room for an inter-partes hearing and agreement between the Ministry of Labour and them.

Atellah said yesterday that the doctors have no problem with the meetings as long as they are about resolving the outstanding issues.

“The meeting is fine, and we will attend but we need our issues implemented,” he stated in a short telephone message. Atellah is recuperating from a head injury he sustained a fortnight ago when police confronted the doctors in the city streets.

Essential services

On March 8, while attempting to address one of the doctors’ demands on the posting of medical interns, Nakhumicha said that the issues raised by the medics went beyond the ministry’s mandate, hence the need to involve more stakeholders including the
Ministry of Education given its role in the training of doctors.

“The county governments should also be engaged as health is fully devolved,” she added.

And while responding to a certificate of urgency suit filed by James Kounah Advocates on behalf of Kenyatta National Hospital seeking to bar the doctors working at the facility from going on strike, Justice Byram Ongaya observed that the order will create a favourable environment for negotiations and agreement on essential services to continue during a potential strike.

“Pending the return date or further orders by the Court and pending the determination and filing of the agreement on the minimum safety services mentioned in order 2 above, there shall be stay of the taking effect of the strike notice and going on strike of the union’s members as notified in the strike notice,” he ruled.

He also directed labour Cabinet Secretary Florence Bore to call a tripartite meeting by noon last Thursday.
The doctors have, however, maintained that the strike is still on despite the court order.

Dr Denis Miskellah, the Union’s Deputy Secretary General noted that Justice Ongaya’s order did not suspend the strike but gave advice that the union and the government sit and agree on modalities to ensure patients do not suffer.

“Our strike commenced on March 14th and will only end when our demands are met,” Miskellah told this publication yesterday.

2017 strike

Last Thursday, he told journalists that the union had put plans in place to cushion Kenyans seeking medical services from bearing the brunt of the strike by ensuring a few medics offer services in the critical areas of the hospitals, though.

“Even before the court directive, we had already told a few of our members to hold in the casualty and ICU to ensure patients do not suffer,” he had said.

However, he reiterated the union’s position that it will disregard the court order the same way the government had overlooked three court orders to increase basic pay for doctors and reinstate suspended doctors.

Miskellah said medical interns make up 27 per cent of the workforce in Kenya’s public hospitals, and their absence means more sick people are being turned away from hospitals.

The impact of the strike was felt across the country with many patients left unattended or being turned away from hospitals.

In 2017, doctors in the country’s public health facilities held a 100-day industrial strike — the longest ever held in Kenya’s history — to demand the implementation of a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) who’s contents include better pay and restoration of the country’s dilapidated public-health facilities.

They also demanded continuous training of and hiring of doctors to address a severe shortage of health professionals.

In the latest strike, Atellah said the decision was arrived at owing to a lack of consensus with the government on issues affecting healthcare workers across the country.

“We are at a point of no return. We advise our doctors across the country to begin discharging patients and referring them,” he said at a press conference at the Union head office.

Staffing norms

He emphasised that a strike is the only power workers anywhere have which includes withdrawal of labour and skills. “This is the only way a worker can compel a heartless employer to come to the table,” he stated.

This strike has been boiling for a while now over various demands by the doctors that range from the unresolved 2017 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), posting of medical interns, failure to employ Doctors in compliance with the set staffing norms and standards for health workers, and failure to provide Comprehensive Medical Insurance cover to the Union members, among other issues.

On March 6, 2024, the Union issued a seven-day strike notice to the government, highlighting a series of unresolved issues that have persisted despite repeated attempts at dialogue and negotiation.

“The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists, and Dentists Union (KMPDU) wishes to inform the public of a critical development regarding the ongoing issues affecting healthcare workers in our country,” Atellah said.

Regrettably, he said, the government had shown a lack of willingness to address the concerns raised, in the process, leaving healthcare workers frustrated.

The medics had earlier threatened to down their tools if the 2017 CBA was not implemented.
The union had also demanded a refund of the deducted housing levy, terming it unconstitutional and illegal.

Conversion of the employment terms of the 113 medical officers hired by Nairobi County Government under discriminatory contractual terms to permanent and pensionable terms, is also another demand the medics have made.