Prevent KNH staff strike

Management of healthcare workers has proved to be a hard nut to crack for the counties, including Nairobi. This is a devolved function, which, it is becoming increasingly clear, should, perhaps, have been left to the national government.

It all boils down to a glaring lack of the capacity to take charge of this cog in the public healthcare system, the health professionals.

An incident that recently played out in front of the gate of Nairobi's Pumwani Maternity Hospital, the biggest such facility in the country, has once against drawn attention to this problem.

A strike by nurses over unpaid salaries for several months left security guards in charge of a vital function they could not handle. They turned away an expectant mother because she would not get the service she required. As a result, she delivered just outside the hospital gate though, luckily, enough a nurse happened to be around and came to her aid.

The failure to pay the salaries of workers who provide essential services, such as the nurses in public hospitals, is an indication of a hamstrung healthcare system. In a properly functioning setup, such staff would be catered for well to ensure that they fully focus on getting the critical job done.

However, Pumwani is not the only place hampered by this unforgiveable ineptitude. It is the same story in the whole country. Another crisis looms in the city after 5,000 workers at Kenyatta National Hospital issued a strike notice over the delayed disbursement of their improved salaries and allowances.

Whatever administrative arguments the Salaries and Remuneration Commission may have over the possible impact of implementation of salary increase cannot justify such a potential dreadful standoff. It is in the interest of the employer and the government to resolve the problem and avert the strike, which is bound to have serious ramifications.