State officials will meet representatives of clinical officers today to forestall another strike by the mid-tier health workers.
The 5,000 clinicians have taken over nursing duties in hospitals because of the ongoing nurses’ strike.
But last week, they threatened to strike, complaining of neglect and discrimination.
This was after the Salaries and Remuneration Commission categorised them as “low-skilled” in its latest job evaluation, which grouped the clinical officers with mortuary attendants and office messengers.
“We suspended the strike for two weeks so we can meet the Council of Governors and officials of the SRC,” deputy secretary of the Kenya Union of Clinical Officers Austin Oduor said.
He said senior SRC officials said they did not know about the skill requirements of clinicians and “that’s why they rated us below nurses as low-skilled workers”.
KUCO chairman Peterson Wachira confirmed they had suspended their strike, pending the meeting.
“It was agreed that the issues raised pertaining to job grading be addressed,” he said.
Clinical officers are mid-level workers — often described as the “backbone” of healthcare.
They run all dispensaries and health centres, and nearly all outpatient services in public hospitals.
Although they were initially trained to alleviate the shortage of doctors, they have become a more permanent cadre — their benefits including reduced training and employment costs and better retention.
Oduor said their roles now include many medical and surgical tasks usually carried out by doctors.
The roles include dialysis, caesarean section, anaesthesia, diagnosis, treatment and prescription.
Students taking the Diploma in Clinical Medicine and Surgery take three years in a recognised institution and an additional one-year of compulsory internship.
“Many of our members also have university degrees or two diplomas, so it was wrong to claim we are low-skilled,” Oduor said.
He said this would have denied members requisite benefits and promotion opportunities.
The meeting comes days after the Employment and Labour relations Court ordered the registrar of trade unions to register KUCO.
Industrial Court presiding judge Nduma Nderi ruled that the registrar of trade unions erred in denying the clinical officers the right to form a union.
Kenya has about 20,000 trained clinical officers, but only 5,000 are employed in public health facilities.