Health services at the Kenyatta University Teaching Research and Referral Hospital (KUTRRH) were paralyzed when medics and other support staff downed tools to protest working conditions at the level 6 facility.
Led by representatives from two unions, the workers asked the Ministry of Health to urgently address a number of grievances including sexual harassment, working for long hours and waiver of staff medical bills for those in critical care departments, among others.
The industrial action caught patients by surprise, leaving hundreds stranded at the wards without medical care as the workers held demonstration in the hospital compound.
The protesters also took issue with the recent suspension of the hospital Chief Executive Ahmed Dagane who was sent on compulsory leave by the Management Board and appointment of Dr Isaac Kamau as acting CEO. They demanded Dagane’s immediate reinstatement.
An attempt by members of the management to address the press was thwarted by medics who shouted them down at the entrance to the administration block.
The unionists led by Dr Vincent Oyiengo of Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union and Justin Kinoti for the Kenya National Union of Nurses gave the hospital management 24 hours to act on their demands or face withdrawal of services.
Among the grievances, employees want payment of nurses and doctors uniform allowances, risk extraneous allowances and radiation exposure allowance for staff working in radiology.
The Hospital Board chaired by Prof Olive Mugenda sent Dagane on leave pending investigations into allegations of misappropriation of funds.
