Ministry needs Sh4.9bn to post intern doctors – CS Nakhumicha

Ministry of Health has requested for Sh4.9 billion from the National Treasury to absorb medical interns.

Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha, however, said the ministry does not have resources currently to absorb the interns.

She stated that the demand by the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union (KMPDU) to post and pay the interns at Sh206,000 per month was untenable since the ministry lacks the resources to foot the bill.

In 2017, KMPDU signed a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) requiring interns to be paid Sh206, 000 per month in salaries and allowances.

The CS said that action will be taken once the funds are made available to the ministry.

“As a ministry we don’t have the resources to post them and the law does not allow us to post when we don’t have a budget for it,” she said.

Nakhumicha said the union should be patient as the ministry looks for ways of resolving the issue, adding that the problem of posting interns is not new or unique to the government.

She said it’s something that has been there and this calls for stakeholders to have a big discussion about health financing.

Already, KMPDU has issued a strike notice to push for the posting of the interns.

Nakhumicha said that proper health financing was critical in addressing all the pillars of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) including the Human Resource pillar where the medical interns fall.

“I agree with the union that this is not just like any other internship because the interns work, they are on the front line and must be compensated but in a sustainable manner,” she said.

While speaking to the media in Kisumu, the CS noted that the ministry is working on a policy to guide on the deployment of the interns once they complete their training.

“This is a long term measure to ensure that the doctors don’t stay out for long before being absorbed after completing their training,” she said.

Nakhumicha added that doctors should reconsider the call to down their tools and pave way for negotiations to resolve the impasse.

National Assembly Health Committee Chairman Robert Pukose called for a holistic approach to addressing the interns’ issue.

KMPDU on Wednesday officially gave a seven-day notice which will end at midnight on Tuesday next week.

The strike notice has been issued to the CSs in charge of the ministries of Health, Labour, Interior, the head of Public Service, Council of Governors, all county governments, all county public service boards, all Vice Chancellors of medical training universities and the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC).