Patients forced to leave Embu referral hospital as medics' strike bites
Some of the patients who were left unattended at the Embu referral hospital following the strike by health workers.
What you need to know:
- 2,400 health workers at Embu Teaching and Referral Hospital have boycotted over delayed salaries and non-payment of Covid-19 allowances.
- Relatives of patients complained that their kin have been abandoned in the wards without anyone to administer drugs or serve them food.
Embu Teaching and Referral Hospital faces imminent closure after relatives of sick patients started withdrawing their kin in the wake of the ongoing workers' strike.
The 2,400 health workers boycotted work on Wednesday over delayed salaries and non-payment of Covid-19 allowances, throwing the entire health sector into crisis.
On Thursday, relatives of patients were busy transferring their loved ones admitted at the hospital to private health facilities as workers kept away from their work stations, paralysing all health services.
Others patients, whose relatives could not afford medical fees at private clinics, have been taken home.
Relatives of patients complained that their kin have been abandoned in the wards without anyone to administer drugs or serve them food.
Some of these patients were clearly in pain and complained of hunger.
A spot check by the Nation established that most of the wards at the facility are now empty.
At the outpatient department, patients seeking treatment were turned away by security guards as there were no clinical officers and doctors to prescribe drugs.
Also badly affected was the maternity where pregnant mothers were left without anyone to assist them.
With no cleaners in sight, the wards were littered with dirty linen, raising fears of an outbreak of diseases at the facility.
One of the affected relatives by the name Nicasio Kathuri was on Thursday morning seeking clearance from the hospital to have his six-year-old son discharged.
Mortuary locked
His son was admitted at the facility after he suffered a broken leg in a road accident.
"I want to take my son to a private hospital in Mwea because he is suffering too much," said Mr Kathuri.
At the mortuary, Simon Kamunda who had gone to collect the body of her son went back home empty-handed since no staff was available to attend to him.
"I found the mortuary locked and I had no option but to return home without the body," he told the Nation.
Meanwhile, the workers, through their union officials, have vowed not to resume work until their grievances are addressed.
"The Health officials are threatening to sack us if we don't call off the strike. We are ready to be sent home," one worker said.
They also accused Governor Martin Wambora's government of failing to address their problems.
The striking workers have further accused the county government of failing to implement promotions, re-designation, indemnity cover and employment of more workers.
They also accused the county government of not remitting money amounting to Sh400million deducted from their salaries to National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) and various banking institutions.
"We have received eviction notices from our landlords yet the government is not even concerned," lamented another worker.
