Patients are being removed from wards in Kisumu public hospitals following a strike by clinical officers and doctors.
Only nurses are working.
Residents are now demanding to know what the county government is doing to ensure the matter is resolved.
At both the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital and the county hospital, relatives were yesterday taking away their patients as the strike by doctors entered day six.
Clinical officers have been on strike longer.
“There is no need of me having my mother at this facility, yet there is no doctor that will treat her, some things the nurses cannot handle without direction from the doctors,” Mark Owiti said.
Mary Akoth said her husband is supposed to undergo surgery but will be forced to go to the neighbouring counties since there is still uncertainty when the Kisumu doctors will resume duty.
“We are wondering what is happening to our county as far as health matters are concerned, just barely two months that their was a total shutdown of public hospitals because of health workers strike, then this,” questioned Akoth.
She added: “The sad part is that we are being told that the county does not care. Who will come to our rescue”.
The residents expressed more fears following reports that Kisumu county was amongst counties blacklisted by the Treasury over unpaid pending bills.
Doctors went on strike after the county government failed to honour a return to work formula signed in June.
Doctors had issued a 14-day strike notice on November 21 through the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union. The notice ended on Friday last week.
The medics are striking over promotions, NHIF cover, non-remittances of statutory deductions and study leave.
Doctors, through their Nyanza branch chairman Kevin Osuri, at the weekend accused the county government of playing games and being dishonest.
Osuri said the document signed in June gave timelines for their promotions and pay increases.
This is the second time in a year that the doctors have resorted to strike.
The county government had in the return to work agreement announced that it had allocated Sh250 million to spend on promotions, an exercise that was to be concluded by September 1.
Osuri said they will not resume duty until the Collective Bargaining Agreement is addressed conclusively.
Two weeks ago, their branch secretary Omweri Lameck accused the county of failing to respond to their October 28 demand letter on pertinent matters.
“The union is right in her assertion that the county government of Kisumu is a hostile employer engaged in illegal subversion of workers' rights," he said.
Last week, the union sued the Governor Anyang' Nyong'o-led government for failing to adhere to the CBA.
Kisumu clinical officers are on their third week of strike.
