Health services in Kakamega General Hospital County haven’t been affected even after the nurses’ strike in the County started on Monday 18th. A visit to the facility revealed that patients were receiving health services despite the absent nurses. The hospital medical superintendent Dr. Victor Zimbulu revealed that the remaining cadres had stepped in to ensure that patients get the services they require. “There are 31 cadres in the medical fraternity, only one has gone on strike, the rest are on duty and our investigations have shown that service delivery has not yet been affected as at now,” said Dr. Zimbulu.
He added that services may be affected if the strike persists, and called upon the national government and the Counties to step in and solve the impasse. The Kakamega branch Kenya National Union of Nurses secretary Renson Bulunya blamed the government for taking nurses’ issues lightly.
Bulunya says they are ready to dialogue if it will be directed towards meeting their demands and not threats to sack nurses.
Patients visiting the facility had mixed reactions, a number expressing satisfaction with the services they went to seek while others weren’t satisfied. John Otoro, from Lurambi lauded the services received at the facility after his 3-year-old daughter who had swallowed a 20 shilling coin was successfully attended to and the coin was removed. Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya who is also the Council of Governors chair last week ordered nurses to report back on duty or risk being sacked.