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{
    "id": 357551,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/357551/?format=api",
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    "content": "Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I looked at the allocation to the Ministry of Health. In Article F (6), we are talking of allocations to regional referral hospitals which were also excluded from the county governments’ equitable share in order to arrival at a base that does not include the cost of operating institutions that provide services to a cluster of counties. When you look at the continuation in Table 2, where we are talking about the cost of county functions, we are talking of provisional and referral hospitals. In devolution, the word “provisional” where we are talking of provisional hospitals, does not exist. Those are supposed to be county referral hospitals and we also have the national referral hospitals. When we talk of referral hospitals, we are only talking of Kenyatta National Hospital and Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital. How are the high volume hospitals - Mathare Mental Hospital and the Spinal Hospital - going to get their funds and where are the specialized units falling? For this, I intend to bring an amendment to this House so that we delete the ‘provisional hospital’ and have it replaced with the county referral hospitals and also the national referral hospitals where we are able to define them clearly. We need to know which are the referral hospitals and county hospitals. What is going to happen is that when we devolve funds to various counties and we do not do it well, it will mean that the county hospitals, which are high volume hospitals, are going to suffer because they will expect to get money from the counties and the money that has been allocated is not adequate. If you say that you are only giving money to the referral hospital and the provisional hospitals, who is going to take care of the high volume hospitals? Hospitals with a bed capacity of 250 and above and those serving 500,000 people are hospitals that are also acting as training institutions for our young professionals in the medical field. So, this House needs to look at it very critically so that those hospitals, and by extension, the Kenya public, do not suffer because we have not devolved funds to cater for them. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, the disease burden in this country is a critical issue. Health is also critical and we must look into it. With regard to health, the two Ministries of Health - that is Medical Services and Public Health and Sanitation - have not been very quick in devolving their services because many members of the staff who have been at the national level have been held up in their cocoons and are trying to protect their jobs. I think it would be in order for this House to bring a comprehensive Bill to discuss the Ministry of Health and how it should devolve. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I intend to bring a Motion before this House regarding the Pharmacy and Poisons Board. Recently, we found out that there are members of staff who have been posted in disguise to empower the county governments when the postings are demotions of senior staff who are involved in the provision of health services in this country. With those remarks, I beg to support the Bill."
}