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Clinical officers issue 14-day ultimatum to halt 'discriminatory' Health Ministry restructure

Members of the Kenya Union of Clinical Officers (KUCO) during a past protest. (Photo: File)

By Eunice Omollo | Wednesday, January 17, 2024

KUCO demanded that the Health ministry and the Public Service Commission immediately stop the execution of approved structures and staff establishments to facilitate a comprehensive review.

Clinical officers have given the Health Ministry and the Public Service Commission (PSC) a 14-day ultimatum to halt a recently developed organisational structure under the departments of medical services and public health, citing discrimination. Speaking in Nairobi on Wednesday, the Kenya Union of Clinical Officers (KUCO) demanded that the two bodies immediately cease the execution of approved structures and staff establishments to facilitate a comprehensive review.

The union accuses the ministry of excluding it from the formulation of managerial instruments, violating provisions of the constitution.

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"We, the clinical officers, were never involved in the development of these institutions. Secondly, we are concerned about the omission of the Directorate of Clinical Services, which is provided for in the approved scheme of service," stated KUCO Secretary-General George Gibore.

Furthermore, the union raised concerns about the exclusion of its cadre in critical areas where they claim to have been offering services, posing a potential crisis in the medical field.

"Failure to address the existing disparities will result in the direct exclusion of clinical officers from decision-making processes, hindering career progression and posing a potential crisis in the implementation of UHC [Universal Health Coverage] at all levels," said Gibore.

In December 2023, the PSC approved the organisational structure for the Department for Public Health and Professional Standards, as well as the establishment of 1,050 posts, comprising 804 technical services and 246 shared service posts. For the Department of Medical Services, it approved a request for the establishment of 920 posts, 707 for technical services and 213 for shared services. The commission also approved the establishment of the health management officers' cadre for staff responsible for managing national government health services in this department.