Rank: Elder Joined: 9/15/2006 Posts: 3,907
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Anti_Burglar wrote:muganda wrote:Is the latest in the Press quoting doctors apropos: 'We are ready to compromise if government is willing to compromise' Quote:@kenyanpundit In 2006 after I completed my internship at KNH, GOK posted me to Mandera. My folks beseeched me not to go, but I decided to.
mind you, 6 other Docs who'd been posted there before me at various times, had immediately resigned after getting the posting.
so I go there with promises from GOK that if I work there for 2 yrs, they'll sponsor me for post graduate studies..
@kenyanpundit I get there & coz the hospital borders both Ethiopia & Somalia, I'm adviced to never sleep on bed in the quarters provided.
reason being, I may catch a stray bullet in my sleep. So, I'm to sleep on a mat on the floor for my own protection.
meanwhile they give me a hardship allowance of Ksh 600 ( it's Ksh 1200 if you're married )...
they promote me to a different job group, but my salary actually reduces. Reason being, house allowance in Mandera is 8k.
house allowance in Nairobi was 20k. So, I'm in a higher job group but getting lesser pay.
while in KNH, my net salary was 50k..In Mandera, it was 32k..So I'm the only Dr for miles around..
Mandera is approximately 1200 km from Nairobi. Traveling by bus would take a minimum of 2 days coz, no roads just camel tracks
fare to Mandera was Ksh 2500 at that time...Nairobi to Kampala was Ksh 2000..
I get there, there's nothing!!!No gloves, sutures, drugs etc...Almost all prescptions I wrote,patients had to go buy outside!
managed to borrow a few supplies from some NGO ( Save the children )..
at that time, Mandera had the highest Maternal & Fetal mortality rate in Kenya! I lobby the MOH to post a Gynae..
I also lobby AMREF,with their flying Drs program to consider including us in their monthly program where they operate for free
they agree & fly out every month with specialists in various fields flying over to perform various procedures for free...
the MOH finally posts a Gynae. My leave is finally approved & I go home..
after my leave is over, I'm at Eastleigh by 4:30 am to depart for Mandera with 'Desert Cruiser' which is leaving at 5:00 am..
@kenyanpundit I was on seat number 6..We reach Mwingi & the bus rolls. Number 1-10 die on the spot , except me number 6.
I was thrown out of the window when the bus started rolling...probably only reason I'm alive today...
I sustain multiple fractures & life threatening wounds. Rushed to Mwingi district hospital...
where they say my condition too severe, they can't handle so referral to KNH...
taken to KNH, where I spend more than an hour bleeding pale casualty. Folks ( who we met up with in casualty ) say f*** IT!!!
they requisition an ambulance & I'm shipped off to Avenue, where I'm ingizwad theater on arrival..
I I spend 3 weeks in hospital...Total bill almost 600k...Luckily I got some waivers from the surgeons who operated..
parents have to do a harambee to pay hospital bill coz NHIF paid only bed charges...
given 90 days sick leave...go to Afya house after they're up to ask for transfer coz still undergoing physiotherapy..
DMS tells me to go back to Mandera & they'll process my transfer when I'm there??!!..I RESIGNED ON THE SPOT!!!..
@kenyanpundit That's how much contempt GOK has for its Doctors!!! Muganda, I remember asking you for some clarifications but don't remember you responding. I'm not being insensitive to the doctors but I want your take on this: How is the 2013 CBA, as it is (you have read it and now know what it contains), once implemented going to solve all these issues highlighted above? How is it going to solve the issue of pharmtechs in the pharmacy, solve the issue of cold chain etc, and solve local community perceptions on reproductive health issues etc and solve road accidents on our highways and solve lethargy at KHN casualty? Lets talk about the 2013 CBA and not some lofty vision 2030-like ideal on how the general health care status ought to be. I think mine are genuine questions that deserve equally genuine answers. Hey @Anti_Burglar, sorry I missed your earlier questions. I agree with you, CBA is not a panacea or magic cure for the ails in the health sector. In my view, the doctors while working to improve problems in health sector, are also using them as a bit of leverage for personal advancement. A point by point reading of CBA also shows the government protected themselves well, hence why courts are forced to agree with them. To begin improving health sector in the country, some aspects of the CBA are a first step. Better welfare for doctors a second step. Treating health sector as more important than say tenders/MPs, a giant leap. At the end, compromise will be required from all parties.
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