Nurses at the Iten County Referral Hospital (ICRH) have gone on strike demanding that the county government hires more nurses to reduce the workload.
The Kenya National Union of Nurses (KNUN) executive secretary Elgeyo Marakwet branch Benson Biwott said currently ICRH has 85 nurses against a required establishment of 300 Nurses being a level 3 hospital.
He therefore called on the county government to at least hire 100 Nurses before the nurses can resume work even as they work towards hiring the required number.
“We are not requesting more money, but more nurses to ensure we can continue providing effective services to our clients,” he said.
Biwott said the county as a whole has 335 nurses who should be recalled to deliver services at ICRH adding that the last time the county hired nurses on permanent and pensionable terms was in 2014.
The unionist said the county has been hiring nurses on contract on very poor terms saying what they are being paid was not enough to meet their financial needs given that they have rent to pay and children to take care of.
He added that despite the fact that the nurses are fully qualified and have gained experience for the time they have been on contract, the county does not give them priority when employing.
Noting that a patient cannot attend to another patient, Biwott called on the authorities to urgently address the matter saying most of the nurses were falling sick as a result of exhaustion which is affecting delivery of services.
Biwott added that they will not accept nursing interns saying the current workforce cannot attend to patients and at the same time supervise interns.
The CEC in charge of health Michael Kibiwott acknowledged the nurses grievances saying despite the establishment of more facilities like the eye unit and the mother and baby unit, there has been no corresponding hiring of staff to serve in the units.
He said the county would want to address the issue but said the reduced allocation of funds to counties from the national treasury was a major impediment.
The CEC however said the county had worked to addressing other demands of the health sector citing promotions which will be effected starting this October. He therefore called on the residents and the nurses to bear with the county as it seeks speedy resolution. He said only the ICRH was affected saying other facilities were operating adding that other cadres at the ICRH were also working.
By Alice Wanjiru
