Gideon Maundu | NATION Mothers with their infants at the Bomu Mkomani Clinic where they were transferred from government hospitals where doctors were absent for the third day running. Most patients have turned to private hospitals as the strike by medical practitioners has virtually crippled services at public institutions.

Doctors working in public hospitals in Mombasa have said they are ready to work elsewhere if their demands are not met.
Coast branch secretary of the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) Abidan Mwachi said on Wednesday they will soon resign if salary negotiations fail.
“We were to release our resignation letters this week, but decided to give the government one more week. Now all the 2,300 doctors in Kenya are drafting the resignation letters, which we shall hand over to the minister on Wednesday next week,” he said.
Dr Mwachi said there was no looking back in their demands and that they were highly qualified and ready to work elsewhere.
We are marketable
“We are ready to work even in banks or other places because we have the papers. We are marketable because we are highly qualified. If our government is not ready to listen to us, we will go,” he said.
The doctors are also demanding that health standards and working conditions be improved before they return to work.
“It is sad for doctors to see thousands of patients dying from easily manageable conditions,” Dr Mwachi said.
He cited the pathetic condition of Coast General Hospital’s peadriatics department and the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
“The child mortality rate is very high at the Coast General Hospital. From the congested wards and nurseries, we record at least 20 child deaths daily. This is unacceptable,” he said.
At the same time, an expectant mother at the Kakamega Provincial Hospital was rushed to St Elizabeth Mission Hospital, Mukumu, for a Caesarean section on Tuesday after developing complications in the absence of doctors to attend to her.
At the Kisumu District hospital, the Nation witnessed an expectant woman being rushed to surgery after she started bleeding. She was operated on by the hospital director, Dr Aggrey Akula and other clinical officers.
“We cannot ignore emergency cases, it is our duty to prevent deaths,” Dr Akula said.
Operations at the 110-bed capacity Longisa District Hospital of Bomet County were paralysed on Tuesday.
The institution’s medical superintendent, Dr Zakary Kasipoi, who was however on duty carrying out operations at the theatre, said all the doctors handling critical diagnosis and other medical services that required their attention had gone on strike.                  ``SOURCE``