The Kenya Medical Practitioners and Doctors Union (KMPDU) on Wednesday signed a return-to-work formula paving the way for the return of doctors to public hospitals.
Wednesday's announcement brought an end to the suffering patients have endured for 56 days. However, the agreement was reached without the two parties agreeing on the most contentious issue which is the government honouring the primary demand issued by the union which is paying intern doctors Ksh206,000 per month.
KMPDU Secretary General Davji Atellah speaking afterwards revealed that the union and the government failed to reach a deal on this specific issue because the matter was still in court and as such, KMPDU wanted to give lawyers adequate time to resolve the matter within the confines of the law.
“One of the fundamental matters that was the issue of medical interns, it is still pending, this matter was in court in Eldoret and it has been part of the conversations and we could not come to an agreement”, stated Davji.
It was hence agreed that the lawyers request the Labour Court more time to ratify the return-to-work formula before a direction was issued to the interns.
Meanwhile, the union directed doctors to return to their working stations 24 hours after the deal was announced.
Further Atellah revealed that despite the union being adamant about having all their demands met, the union conceded to the government’s promises as KMPDU officials were assured that the government would over the long term honour its part of the bargain.
On the other hand, the Ministry revealed that a taskforce would be set up to resolve the pending matters while the government worked to improve the human resource conditions for the doctors.
“As part of the resolution, plans are underway to review staffing norms and standards, enhance HRH coordination through the Kenyan Health Human Resource Advisory Council, and establish an intergovernmental task force to address unresolved issues,” stated the Ministry of Health.
A spot check on the working formula showed that the national and county governments had agreed to compensate the doctors Ksh3.5 billion in arrears owed.
Further, the government also agreed to clear arrears stemming from the 2017 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) in five instalments.
The government also agreed to issue a comprehensive cover for the doctors as well as implement other agreements reached in the 2017 CBA.
