- Kenya Health Professionals Society said members of only five of 12 cadres of associations are in unions.
- The society demanded the inclusion of all ununionised healthcare workers in all negotiations that pertains to their welfare.
Image: FILE
Kenya Health Professionals Society (KHPS) has threatened a go slow if talks do not resume to have its members join unions.
KHPS, an umbrella body comprising 17 health professional associations and societies, has since written to the Ministry of Health demanding that all its members join unions.
KHPS said only five cadres of its members are unionised.
“We will therefore address this unconstitutional discrimination in the best way the Ministry of Health will understand by staging a sit-in from 12.00 am Sunday, April 8 2024 until further notice if we are not given an audience by the end of this week," KHPS chairman Mohamed Duba said.
Duba said the isolation of 12 cadres is detrimental to the service provision in the healthcare sector.
"It is not our will that we should take this unfortunate direction but we have been arm-twisted and neglected," he added.
His letter was copied to the Head of Public Service, State Department for Public Health and Professional Standards and State Department for Medical Services.
Duba further demanded the inclusion of all ununionised healthcare workers in all negotiations that pertain to their welfare, internship, career progression and other matters that improve service delivery.
“It should be noted that our failure to participate in strikes and demonstrations does not mean that our voices should not be heard and our concerns not addressed like the other unionised healthcare workers,” he added.
Duba stated that all healthcare workers complement each other in their day-to-day activities.
He said they are rightfully recognised by Parliament and other partners in the health sector.
“We demand immediate interventions and inclusion of Kenya Health Professional Society to relevant decision-making committees and all decision-making processes to enhance complete synergy and optimal output in service delivery,” he said.
KHPS members include Association Medical Engineers of Kenya (AMEK), Association of Public Health Officers (APHOK), Association of Medical Records Officers Kenya (AMRO-K), Association of Kenya Medical Laboratory Scientific Officers (AKMLSO), Pharmaceutical Society of Kenya (PSK), Kenya Society of Physiotherapists (KSP), Kenya Occupational Therapists Association (KOTA), Kenya Dental Technology Association (KDTA) and Kenya Community Nutrition Association (KECONA).
Others are the Kenya Plaster Technicians Association (KPTA), Kenya Pharmaceutical Association (KPA), Kenya Medical Social Workers Association (KEMSWA), National Association of Orthopedic Technology (NAOT), Nutritionist Association of Kenya (NAK), Oral Health Association Kenya (OHAK), Society of Radiography in Kenya (SORK) and Kenya Association of Health Administrators (KAНА).
Image: FILE