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| Senior Counsel AhmedNassir Abdullahi |
Senior counsel,
I just couldn't sleep without answering you.I had other more important things to do but decided to put them aside to reply to your bitter statement on twitter about the doctors in Kenya.I respect that you are entitled to your opinion and that you may decide to lament on lack of quality care in our hospitals.(Its a right enshrined in the constitution) .The only problem is that,had it been said by a lesser person in the form of a unschooled simpleton in the village herding camels I would accept.But coming from a "learned" foe I just have to respond.
In the field of medicine (unlike law),human life is very precious and any action or inaction is based on a set of well-rehearsed and tutored guidelines with the aim to ensure we "Do no harm".To be a doctor requires a strong,capable mind able to put aside personal opinions and even affiliation of any kind to serve the people irrespective of their colour,creed or class in society.As I jot this,at midnight,many doctors are busy on night-duty and others called from their sleep to attend to critically ill patients.I do hope there are law firms open at this hour busy saving lives of individuals and not charging by the hour.Since that is not the case,I would think you owe the Kenyan doctors an apology for insinuating they are less than adequate,not-good or simply incompetent.
I however cannot dismiss your concern on what you perceive as "Not good" about the Kenyan doctor.The doctor has never claimed to cure but rather treats,only God cures.It is evident your tweet was ignorantly and hurried sent.The statement that followed on your tweet clearly highlights your concern.One of cost of care and quality.The crux of the matter is that you may be implying a totally different thing to competency of the doctors but rather a concern on the state of healthcare in the country.
This in fact forms the core matter of health systems and that's where you have shot yourself in the foot senior counsel.The current health system is and always has lagged behind other countries like India because the laws to regulate healthcare were made by lawyers or had the greatest input from them.So,when you claim there are are no neurosurgeons,you are claiming lawyers messed up not to insist on a certain requirement in law that would force the government to have the necessary structures in place.Of course there are different facets of Health Systems namely
- Governance and Leadership
- Healthcare workforce staffing
- Healthcare Financing
- Infrastructure and service delivery
- Commodities management including medicines and surgical supplies
- Effective Information systems to coordinate all the above
Not to bore you with details on the
different issues involved,I wish to inform you that the workforce available is
capable and competent as much as competence can be measured.In order to address
issues of technical trainings,doctors and all healthcare workers undergo a
compulsory Continous Professional Development sessions for licensing and they
keep upto date with their profession through various forums.The only issue you
should be concerned about in healthcare staffing is whether your relatives in
Ramu and El-Wak are able to access service from a competent,qualified doctor
when they need to.The answer in most instances is No.This is where your concern
is justified and you need to lobby your governor to ensure recruitment and
deployment of adequate personnel in facilities in their jurisdiction. You also
need to note that not everyone with a white coat is a doctor,even my local
butcher has a whitecoat.
Senior counsel,I beg that you do the honorable thing and calmly find a way to get the foot out of the mouth and have piece of humble pie,on me.Once you've had your fill maybe we can "radicalize" you to champion for a better Health System for our country.We need people like you to champion the cause of the mwananchi and to ensure better funding for healthcare for us to attain not just Millenium Development Goals but be able to handle all emergencies within the counties.We would not need to ferry all critical cases to Kenyatta National Hospital ever again.There are many things to be done such as the small mater of the Health Bill awaiting to be acted on.It has the potential to address a number of the concerns above and I challenge you to make it see the light of day in the shortest possible time.
Also the government needs to review
expenditure of health as a percentage of GDP to enable attainment of better
health for all.
With that said,I beg to sleep.
6 comments:
Am competent, offering free Maternal care whole day and night!!!!!!
Where will the mothers be if my team was incompetent,? ???
Kindly do the Honourable and Paraphrase your Statement to something like Poor remuneration and Infrastructure.
Ain't paid a Standing Allowance either for keeping awake these sleepless nights
Am competent, offering free Maternal care whole day and night!!!!!!
Where will the mothers be if my team was incompetent,? ???
Kindly do the Honourable and Paraphrase your Statement to something like Poor remuneration and Infrastructure.
Ain't paid a Standing Allowance either for keeping awake these sleepless nights
Point! Pregnant poignant point.
Good information to the "lawyer".
We need to be in forefront to showcase what the medical profession is all about.Lets do our best to serve our people at all times.No amount of attacks should deter us from being faithful to our oaths.
I believe that yes, many of us tend to judge those in the healthcare industry harshly. Rarely have I heard or seen those in leadership empathise with the plight of healthcare workers and the conditions in which we work under. Perhaps, now that Pandora's box has been opened, things will improve, through you as leadership.
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