- Karanja wants the Health committee to establish the number and causes of infant deaths from September 2023 to date.
- She further wants Senators to probe the “unprocedural dismissal of well-trained and experienced health workers and their replacement with recent graduates.”
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Nakuru Senator Tabitha Karanja has asked the House to investigate allegations of infant deaths recorded across Nakuru County from September 1-20, 2023.
Seeking a statement from the Standing Committee on Health, Karanja said lawmakers should particularly focus on Naivasha subcounty where there were allegations of 25 infant deaths.
“In the Statement, the committee should state the number and causes of infant deaths recorded across Nakuru from September 2023 to date,” she said.
She said the committee should apprise the Senate of the capacity-building programmes undertaken by the healthcare workers in Nakuru.
She said the committee should further indicate whether there are plans by the county government in partnership with the national government to undertake capacity building for specialised fields such as paediatric care, cancer treatment and productive health, which may be too costly for the devolved unit to fund.
“State whether there are plans by the county government to employ additional healthcare workers to bridge the extent of manpower shortage,” Karanja said.
She said the committee should recommend measures to curb the alleged attrition of healthcare workers and the deterioration of healthcare services in hospitals, healthcare centres and dispensaries in Nakuru.
Karanja further said the committee should state the rationale behind the “unprocedural dismissal of well-trained and experienced health workers and their replacement with recent graduates.”
She further wants the county government to explain why it has not expunged the health workers from the duty roster and withheld their salaries for July and August 2023 in disregard of a court order reinstating them.
A court order blocking the sacking of 780 county health workers in Nakuru caused confusion at hospitals after two groups of nurses reported for work.
The order, issued by Justice Hellen Wasilwa in July, suspended enforcement of the county's circular stating its intention not to renew the contracts of the workers whose terms expired on June 30.
After dismissing the workers, the county hired a new group of workers who immediately reported for duty, prompting the Kenya National Union of Nurses to seek legal redress.