The last time the nurses went for a strike it lasted for an entire 3 months. The moment Kenyans hear of the same what comes in their mind is a situation worse than that.
The Kenyan government have always given them a deaf ear on such matters. But this time round their is a sigh of relief.
Clinical officers have called off a strike that was set to begin this Friday.
They had threatened to boycott work if the NHIF did not rescind a decision that barred clinicians from offering services to NHIF-registered patients.
The Kenya Union of Clinical Officers and Kenya Clinical Officers Association had given a strike notice on November 18.
In a statement on Thursday, KUCO said it had reached an agreement with the NHIF to provide a list of its gazetted members and institutions managed by clinical officers for review.
“NHIF, in line with its strategic intent on stakeholder engagement, has held meetings which have resulted in reaching an amicable solution over concerns of our members.”
“The NHIF has agreed to review the provisions that limit clinical officers from offering services to NHIF beneficiaries,” the union said.
Clinicians were objecting to the rule that required them to seek approval from medical officers before billing patients they offer.
While issuing the strike ultimatum, KUCO secretary general George Gibore said clinical officers were forced to seek approval from medical officers before authorising billing of NHIF-registered patients for medical procedures.
“If I want to do a scan for a patient, I have to find a medical officer to give me their registration number yet they will not interpret the Magnetic Resonance Imaging scan,” he said.
However, the Kenya Medical Pharmacists and Dentists Union has objected to NHIF’s move and threatened to move to court.