Nairobi Hospital faces imminent shutdown of operations as staff threaten to strike
They noted that laboratory operations will cease from December 17, with support staff, including cleaners, cooks, security personnel, porters, and morticians, set to join the boycott.
Nairobi Hospital staff have raised complaints of mistreatment and harassment by the management, prompting doctors to issue a seven-day strike notice.
The medics under the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union (KMPDU) are demanding the resignation of the board of directors and the Acting Chief Executive Officer, citing allegations of financial mismanagement and unfair treatment.
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While addressing the press on Tuesday, KMPDU announced that doctors and nurses would stop attending to patients, including emergencies, if their demands were unmet.
They noted that laboratory operations will cease from December 17, with support staff, including cleaners, cooks, security personnel, porters, and morticians, set to join the boycott.
The union accused the hospital management of reducing employee medical coverage under the guise of financial challenges, further exacerbating tensions within the facility.
KMPDU Secretary-General Davji Atellah criticised the management, stating that efforts to address the issues through dialogue and legal action had been ignored.
“We want to see if the board can once again hire hoodlums, dress them in butcher white coats as they did during the AGM on December 4, 2024, and have them attend to patients. We call upon the government to step in and stop this impending crisis,” Atellah said.
He added that the union had previously obtained a favourable court ruling, which the hospital management allegedly disregarded, leading to contempt proceedings. Atellah also claimed the strike notice is a warning to other private hospitals that mistreat their employees.
The union leader recounted an incident during the hospital’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) on December 4, 2024, where union members were reportedly harassed and attacked. He accused the hospital of hiring individuals to disrupt the meeting and prevent the impeachment of the management.
"Doctors and bona fide members were shocked to see these characters, who arrived in minibuses labelled 'Embassava,'" he said.
This strike notice comes as KMPDU plans nationwide industrial action in public hospitals starting December 22. This will include support for unpaid intern doctors who have gone without salaries for four months.
Atellah highlighted the dire consequences of the unresolved issues, including the deaths of five doctors in the past two months due to work-related stress and insufficient insurance coverage.
He called on the government and stakeholders to intervene, warning that Nairobi Hospital faces imminent closure and collapse if the situation is not resolved.
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