at retirement their pensions have to be factored in . This is normally a huge cost to the exchequer .
I am not privy to the negotiations but for me based on this it is a no brainer and I would encourage the Government to immediately deploy the Interns , however you want to call them to ensure we have an adequate number of health personnel that can be employed .
I wish we could come up with the health commission but it is not in the cards at the moment as this County story is very aggravating . The board should insist that to maintain registration and to be able to operate a health facility at certain status e . g , a level 4 or 5 hospital the hospital needs to demonstrate availability of a certain number of staff with set competencies .
The county system has resulted in very few doctors being employed and those
who are employed stagnate and some are never redesignated to their actual performance . We have specialists who to-date are working as Medical Officers simply because redesignating them would result in a pay rise . Whereas this may be justified due to limited available resources , it is very demoralizing and makes doctors leave the workforce in search of greener pastures .
To add insult to injury you are working way below your qualifications , the salary especially in the counties is perennially late and you are also not accorded any facilities such as loans or mortgages . You question whether it was really worth the long and arduous journey to becoming a professional medical doctor .
Behind every dark cloud there is always a silver lining . This is the time to be a healthcare person if you want to work in other countries in a professional capacity . Many countries such as Australia , Canada and so on are looking for doctors and other health professionals below 45 years of age . Do your research and due diligence and try to ensure you are using credible sites or people if you opt to go this route .
I came back home hoping to make a difference and not wanting to be a second class citizen in other people ’ s countries . Unfortunately , the challenges of daily living are such that one needs to make very tough , conscious decisions and if getting a livelihood elsewhere is viable , I
do not see why not .
Back to strike manenos , the first item on the agenda is the issue of comprehensive medical cover . Due to the change from the National Insurance Health Fund ( NHIF ), to the Social Insurance Health Fund ( SHIF ), doctors and indeed all civil servants employed by the government / counties stand to lose their comprehensive medical cover .
What is significant about this was at the time of negotiations for the 2017 Collective Bargaining Agreement , the medical allowance was dropped and the reasoning behind this was that they all contributed to NHIF and at the time NHIF was offering a very attractive Insurance cover ( better than many private insurances ). Over time this has changed and it is very unfortunate but it appears junior doctors cannot afford to pay for their own services if they do not possess a medical cover .
We can only but pray for speedy resolution of the strike and that sanity prevails . Whatever happens may no Kenyan suffer serious harm and may the negotiations yield a lasting solution so strikes become a thing of the past or better yet we become like Canadian doctors who strike because their salaries are too high .
Dr . Maureen Owiti is a practicing Obstetrician Gynaecologist and fertility consultant based in Nairobi . You can commune with her on this or related matters via email at : Drmaureenowiti @ gmail . com .
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