Patients at Garissa Referral Hospital suffer as doctors' strike continues

Patients at the Garissa Referral Hospital are languishing in the wards as its doctors joined their colleagues in the nationwide strike.

A spot check at the facility shows only a few nurses doing rounds with patients lamenting that they have not seen doctors since last week as others opt to seek help in private facilities.

The Eastleigh Voice has gathered that all those doing their internship at the biggest referral hospital in the county have downed their tools and only a few consultant doctors are left.

"I was operated on last Monday but I have not seen any doctors since then. I don't know what is happening," Halima Mohamud said at the hospital.

Halima noted that she had heard of the doctor's strike and already asked her relatives to discharge her and take her to a private facility where she could get better medical attention.

Sources within the hospital have told The Eastleigh Voice that the county government has threatened to immediately replace any medic on contracts who would join the boycott.

"They have already contacted intern doctors who were at the facility a long time ago but are not yet employed just in case those in contract join the strike," a medic at the hospital who sought anonymity told The Eastleigh Voice.

Another elderly man Mohamed Ahmed said he had an appointment with a doctor but was forced to go home after he was told that doctors were on strike

He called on the government to immediately solve issues surrounding the doctor's strike saying many people who cannot afford private hospitals are suffering.

Efforts to reach the referral hospital's Chief Executive Officer Hawa Boi were futile as her phone went unanswered and text messages on her cell phone were not replied to.

Doctors nationwide have down their tools over the employment of medical interns.

The Kenya Medical Practitioners Pharmacists Dentists Union (KMPDU) has also asked the government to adhere to the collective bargaining agreement, scheme of service, and human resource guidelines by the Public Service Commission (PSC).