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{
    "id": 498646,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/498646/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 336,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Government. They are all falling apart and are downgraded. This is simply because of the challenges they are facing. A very good example is where I come from, Isiolo County. These are the counties that have suffered for many years. There are no medical facilities. I remember when I used to work with the Ministry of Health many years back, the Ministry of Health used to get the largest share of the budget in this country. If that budget was available, it would have been given to the counties so that they are able to develop those hospitals. Procurement is a big challenge because the hospitals do not have the capacity for procurement. The other point that I want to raise is that of hiring staff. I am telling you for a fact that most of the people we actually hire in those hospitals do not understand the medical fraternity. This is purely because county governments are political governments. So, we appoint people depending on whether they supported us or not. We are not looking for the professionals. Clearly the professionals are getting frustrated. Most of them have decided to leave especially the experienced doctors and nurses. They have made a decision to leave those hospitals because they are not provided with the facilities that they should work with. Secondly, the people who are appointed to man those hospitals do not understand or know head or tail what a medical department looks like. If we are not very careful, we will lose all these professionals. The poor people who cannot afford medical care, especially women, are really dying, day in, day out. Nobody talks of that. Most of them do not have anywhere to go to. Clearly, we have a lot of challenges. We need to come up with a proper policy in terms of how these hospitals are going to be run. Personally, I feel that the Ministry of Health should come up with a structure or a standard kind of policy where they oversee the running of those hospitals; whether they meet the standards in procurement, appointments and so on. If we do not do that, then we have lost direction especially when it comes to health facilities. Health is a critical aspect in our lives. Previously when there were challenges in district hospitals, we used to run to referral hospitals. Most of the referral hospitals are actually charging exorbitantly these days. Poor members of our communities cannot afford the charges. The district hospitals do not have facilities. It is high time that this Senate sits and makes a decision especially for the department of health services. They should actually review or maybe look at the way these hospitals are currently running and come up with a proper intervention. If we do not do that, then all our hospitals will be run down, they will shut down and Kenyans will get frustrated. Of course, the doctors will go and open their kiosks wherever they are. However, where will the poor Kenyans go? The Senate has a mandate. I propose that maybe we need to task the relevant committee to see what challenges those counties are facing especially in terms of delivery of services after the function has been devolved. Finally, initially there was job security in those hospitals. However, those professionals do not have job security. They are facing a lot of frustrations. The doctors and professionals are actually raising these issues. Clearly, we must come up with a solution to the current challenges that we are having in our counties that are affecting our hospitals. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}