Healthcare workers want the government to address the shortage of medics in public hospitals as the second batch of 76 nurses is expected to leave the country to go work in the United Kingdom.
The nurses are expected to be placed in various hospitals across Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Kenya Union of Clinical Officers (KUCO) chairman Peterson Wachira on Tuesday said while the deal is good, the government must ensure Kenyans access health services by employing more doctors, nurses and clinicians.
"The deal is good for the nurses but it means a loss to Kenyans who seek services in public health facilities because we do not have enough health workers," Wachira noted.
According to KUCO, it is the right of nurses and other healthcare workers to go to work in other countries.
He said that the country must be able to balance between exporting the experience and what remains to serve Kenyans.
Health CS Susan Nakhumicha on Monday said the nurses are leaving the country following the Bilateral Labour Agreement signed between Kenya and the UK in July 2021.
“I reckon that questions abound on the impact of this agreement regarding the drain on our domestic healthcare resources,” Nakhumicha said.
“Let me allay these fears today by stating that this agreement bears testament to a common spirit of mutual respect and shared responsibility.”
The deal agreed that about 20,000 nurses would be employed within the next three years.
The first cohort saw 19 Kenyan nurses being flagged off by the former Cabinet Secretary for Health Mutahi Kagwe.
They were attached to Oxford University Hospital.
"What we have been asking the government to do is to ensure that we are having annual recruitment of healthcare workers as this will ensure that we deliver high standards of services," Wachira added.
Kenya had about 76,000 registered nurses in 2022.
