• Those with unrecognised training struggle for public service jobs as the SRC does not officially recognise them
• Recognition means some specialists can apply for reimbursements from insurance firms for treating clients
Image: File
Kenyans will soon find themselves interacting with new types of health workers in hospitals and care homes as the Ministry of Health has expanded categories of healthcare workers
The ministry says Kenya now has not 17, but 42 cadres of healthcare workers.
The additional 25, who will be recognised soon, include caregivers, dental hygienists and speech therapists, among others.
The Kenya Health Professions Oversight Authority (KHPOA) said the additional specialties were already there but their training was not regulated and were not recognised by law.
“They had no professional regulatory bodies or mechanisms in place to oversee the quality of training, practice and continuing competence,” KHPOA chairman Dr Amit Thakker said.
Kenyans with unrecognised ‘health’ training usually struggle to find jobs in the public service because the Salaries and Remuneration Commission does not officially recognise their existence.
The recognition means some of these specialists can apply to receive reimbursements from insurance companies for treating clients.
Until now, the government only recognised 17 cadres who included medical doctors, dentists, pharmacists, nurses, clinical officers, lab technologists, nutritionists, pharmaceutical technologists and biomedical engineers, among others.
The KHPOA, the regulatory body established by the Health Act 2017, said it is in the process of formally recognising the additional 25.
“The authority initiated a mapping, verification and recognition exercise of all unregulated health professionals and identified 42 professional cadres in the health sector,” Dr Thakker said.
He said the training and practice of the 17 recognised cadres is now overseen by nine regulatory bodies.
KHPOA, which is based at the Ministry of Health, was established in 2017 to maintain a duplicate register of all health professionals in Kenya and regulate their regulatory bodies.
Thakker said the nine regulatory bodies recognized by law are the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council (KMPDC), Pharmacy and Poisons Board, Clinical Officers Council, Nursing Council of Kenya, Kenya Medical Laboratory Technicians Technologists Board, Kenya Nuclear Regulatory Authority, Kenya Nutritionists and Dieticians, Public Health Officers and Technicians Council and the Physiotherapy Council of Kenya.
He said four regulatory bodies, representing some of the currently unrecognised cadres, are in the process of being licensed. They will represent Information and Records Managers, Counsellors and Psychologists, Occupational therapists and radiographers.
“Effective regulation is expected to protect the public and maintain public confidence in health professions and services provided while ensuring professional ethics and standards are upheld,” Thakker said.
He said KHPOA board has also approved an ongoing recognition of 11 health professional cadres.
These are optometrists, optometry technologists, ophthalmic opticians and optical technicians; orthopedic and trauma technologists and technicians; perioperative theatre technologists and technicians; emergency medical technicians; community health officers and assistants; medical engineering officers, technologists and technicians; mortuary technicians and technologists; orthopedic technologists; speech and language therapy officers; podiatrists (professionals who treat foot and leg problems) and sports health officers.
The authority has further approved the recognition of five other health professional cadres. These are medical social workers; audiologists (they treat hearing loss and balance disorders); dental technologists/technicians; healthcare support assistants (caregivers) and paramedics.
Thakker said now the authority is still assessing 13 out of the 25 health professional cadres that were not regulated.
The cadres awaiting recognition are medical microbiologists; respiratory therapists; health education and promotion officers; occupational health and safety officers; medical parasitologists; sonographers; cytologists/embryologists/andrologists; physicists; population health officers; echocardiography technologists; neurophysiologists and technologists; dental hygienists and clinical perfusionists (operate heart/lung machine).
The authority said it continues to receive requests from various people to be recognised and licensed as healthcare workers.
It is currently reviewing new requests from phlebotomists, health administration officers, biomedical researchers and those in molecular medicine.
“Effective regulation is expected to protect the public and maintain public confidence in health professions and services provided while ensuring professional ethics and standards are upheld,” Thakker said.
“The authority has therefore contributed 35 per cent towards the regulation of health professionals in the country and is continuously making strides to regulate the remaining known 37 per cent. This will help achieve modernisation/transformation of health professional regulation.”
KHPOA CEO Dr Jackson Kioko said the authority will be supervising training institutions to ensure proper standards are met.
He said patients have the right to file a complaint of ill-treatment at a health facility and have the complaint investigated appropriately.
However, by law, this mandate is currently with KMPDC if it involves a doctor or health facility.
“If a health facility or a regulatory body fails to resolve a complaint to the satisfaction of the complainant, the Authority shall take necessary action,” Kioko said.