As the health care workers strike enters the third day, patients are suffering due to lack of services at hospitals and many have opted to take their kin to private hospitals. At the Webuye sub county hospital things were stretched, with many patients left unattended to doctors and nurses opted to drop their duties.
The few patients who spoke to West Media said they haven’t been attended to since the strike began and some had to seek other means to get medical attention or go back home. Some wanted to be released in order to access care elsewhere but they weren’t allowed due to the accumulated hospital bills, and have to wait on the government to strike a deal with the striking health workers.
Those who don’t have arrears were allowed to leave, with many going to private hospitals. The patients have urged the government to shift focus from the BBI politics and fix the needs of doctors, nurses and other health workers, noting that they do a lot of good work on the frontline.
One patient from an isolation center in Webuye who sought anonymity said some patients are being released even when they haven’t recovered due to the ongoing strike, leaving behind a few who are in a really serious condition. However, no casualty has been reported at the hospital since the strike begun and patients hope normal services will resume soon.
