- Muthoni has raised concern that patients in the country have continued to suffer since they are unable to access essential healthcare services.
- She has further called on the striking doctors to come back to the table for the negotiations to continue.
Image: MATHEWS NDANYI
Principal SecretaryPublic Health and Professional Standards Mary Muthoni has called on the striking doctors to go back to work.
Muthoni has raised concern that patients in the country have continued to suffer since they are unable to access essential healthcare services.
She has further called on the striking doctors to come back to the table for the negotiations to continue.
According to the PS, going to the streets does not provide a solution to the various grievances raised by the doctors.
"The government has already released Sh2.4 billion to take care of their issues. It may not be enough as they are saying but why do you stay in the streets instead of coming to the table and telling us the Sh2.4 billion is not enough and we negotiate," Muthoni said.
"How do we speak if you are still in the streets? So I am asking the doctors, please go back to work, do not allow the patients to die in your hands because of your decisions."
Muthoni said it was wrong for the doctors to mistrust the government of the day over claims that the previous governments had failed to implement the agreements they had made.
She noted that people and governments change, adding that it is time for the two parties to come back to the negotiating table for the good of the common Kenyan.
She said it was uncalled for to allow patients to suffer because of perennial issues which have persisted for a long time.
"As a government, we have an open door policy, we have met you once, twice and if it is not enough let us come back to the table," Muthoni said.
"People change, governments change so don’t mistrust the government of the day, let us come together and reason so that we take care of our patients together."
Doctors have maintained that they will not go back to work until all the issues they are raising are addressed by the government.
The key issue is the posting and fair remuneration of medical interns, with the union having rejected the Sh2.4 billion released by the government last week.
The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) SG Davji Atellah on Sunday said they will not backtrack on the issue of salaries.
"The current salary for doctors, including interns, was offered by the government. We were demanding more but gave in to their demand," Atellah said.
President William Ruto on Sunday asked striking doctors to resume work and accept what the government has offered to hire intern doctors.
Ruto emphasized that doctors need to realize that the country doesn't have the resources to raise wages for its workers.
He stressed that the county must manage within its available resources instead of resorting to borrowing to pay wages.
"We must tell ourselves the truth that the time has come for us to live within our means," Ruto said.
He was speaking at the AIC Church in Eldoret where he attended a Sunday service.