The discussion on whether healthcare should be under the national government is gaining attention, as concerns rise over the capacity of county leaders to manage such a critical service.
Dr. Davji Atellah, Secretary General of the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) on Tuesday warned that political interests at the county level often take priority over patient care.
“The discussion about it being under the national government, then begins to make sense, because you ask the question, should the doctors have a commission like the teachers have, like parliamentarians have? It’s a discussion, should a service this sensitive be left to the county governments?” he said during an interview at Radio Generation.
“Can we afford to have so many deaths because you have individuals within a county who are determined to play politics with the lives of the people who actually gave them that job?” he posed.
Atellah noted that while the national government has implemented many reforms, counties continue to lag behind.
“Yes, for all this time, with the issue of our areas that were prepared by the national government have been paid, issues of postgraduate training…When you report arrears, we have 5,009 doctors who received arrears in December and in September this year. We have 2,000 doctors posted and being paid 208,000 as per the collective bargaining agreement. We have 633 doctors whose postgraduate fees have been approved, and about 400 have been paid,” he said.
He added that counties struggle with promotions and salary payments.
“Despite signing agreement last year, we have to keep on having sporadic [actions] in different counties to have these issues implemented. More than 30 counties are still lagging behind on salaries. Many counties don’t remit the SHOF on time or loans on time,” he said.
Atellah emphasized that the main problem is poor leadership at the county level.
“Healthcare, when you look at the pillars of it…even at the ministry, somebody who is a leader can make things move, because then you have technical persons who know what to do. In counties, we have 47 governors…maybe 20 of them decide things based on their own view,” he said.
He explained how lack of vision affects service delivery.
“You need to have a vision on how healthcare ought to be run. When a governor walks into a neonatal unit saying things are okay, yet problems persist, that is incompetence. When people are not at work or drugs are missing, and you blame others instead of solving the problem, that is a leadership failure,” said Atellah.
Atellah’s remarks highlight the urgent need for strong leadership to ensure healthcare services are delivered effectively and patients’ well-being is safeguarded.