Mathias Ringa
19 October 2008
Nairobi — The acute crisis facing medical institutions was exposed on Sunday with revelations that a single doctor is serving more than 20 clinics in Mombasa.
Speaking to the Nation, Town Clerk, Tubman Otieno said 22 clinics are faced with a medical personnel crisis.
The clinics, he said, had a shortage of 34 doctors, 105 nurses, 60 public health officers and 50 clinical officers.
Three of the clinics are closed while 19 are operational. He said the council was financially constrained as it had a Sh2 billion debt, and therefore could not employ doctors.
"The council does not have funds to hire doctors and even if in future we get cash, it would be difficult for doctors to take up the jobs because the terms of local authorities are much lower than those of the Government," Mr Otieno said.
Mombasa mayor Ahmed Mohdhar said lack of medical personnel at the clinics has forced residents to seek treatment at Coast General Hospital.
Personnel shortage
"Residents who suffer from minor ailments have to travel to the provincial hospital for treatment... It's quite unfortunate that these facilities are not beneficial to the public," he said.
But Medical Services minister Anyang' Nyong'o told the local authority to decide whether the ministry should manage the clinics in order to sort out the medical personnel shortage.
Prof Nyong'o, who met with local councillors and chief officers last Friday, said that the Nairobi mayor had proposed that the ministry run its clinics since it faced similar problems.
"You have the clinics, while the Government has the personnel. It is up to you to decide whether the ministry should take charge," he told the councillors.
Specialised doctors
Meanwhile, Prof Nyong'o has said top medical officials will list down all the equipment that is lacking in public hospitals countrywide to be budgeted for in the next financial year.
Speaking to journalists at the Coast General Hospital after he toured the institution, Prof Nyong'o said that apart from noting down the missing equipment, the medical team will also capture the shortage of specialised doctors, nurses and other medical personnel.
At the same time, Prof Nyong'o said the Government would establish four hospitals in Nairobi and two in Mombasa to decongest existing hospitals.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 The Nation. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
