The Mountain Journal
Nurses’ strike has continued to impact negatively on the operations at the health facilities in Laikipia County in the past three weeks.
Families with the sick and expectant mothers are forced to take them to far distances as the Nyahururu and Nanyuki Referral Hospitals among other facilities stopped admitting the critically ill patients, after those who were in the medical wards transferred to private facilities in the counties of Meru and Nyeri.
The residents were angered over the death of the five year old Emmanuel Kaburia Githinji from Njogu ini area near Nanyuki town, after lack of anti venom injection on July 5, who called on Governor Joshua Irungu to urgently end suffering to the Laikipians.
They said the child was rushed to Nanyuki Teaching and Referral Hospital where he could not be treated owing to the ongoing nurses strike, as there was no health worker to respond to emergencies.
The strike commenced on June 16, with the community calling for urgent intervention over long-standing grievances they say have been ignored despite repeated agreements with the county government.
Community leaders led by Joseph Muriira, Patrick Wahome and Mary Githambo on Thursday visited the Nanyuki Hospital and the local mortuary, as they expressed their displeasure over the sore state.
They asked the Governor to consider the plight of residents and ensure the restoration of the health services in all facilities.
“It’s painful that the boy from Njogu ini area died when he was being transferred to Huruma Hospital for the administration of an anti venom injection as there was no health worker assigned to handle emergencies at the Nanyuki teaching and referral hospital,” said Muriira.
Wahome castigated the Laikipia County Assembly for turning a deaf ear to the plight of Laikipia, saying by Monday next week they expect the nurses to be back.
“Nanyuki Teaching and Referral Hospital has been running without nurses wards are closed as mothers, children, the elderly and the sick are being turned away or forced to seek help elsewhere at a cost many cannot afford,” said Wahome.
The chairman of Laikipia Nurses Union Peter Ndiba said all the meetings designed to end the strike flopped following the non commitment of the county government.
Ndiba said the county government has failed to honour the 10 grievances that had been agreed, that include translating all the nurses on contract terms to the permanent and pension terms.
“ The medical wards, and maternity wing are closed as only the out patients and child clinics are partially opened under contracted nurses,” said Mr Ndiba.
The healthcare workers took the industrial action protesting the county government’s failure to pay salary arrears, and to implement a previously agreed-upon return-to-work formula covering promotions and staff shortages.