Sorry to say this but doctors
have been burning bridges instead of building alliances. They have sought an
insular cause where they have surrounded themselves with groupthink and see themselves
as the only players and only viable option. This “god-complex” among doctors
has been characterized by their perception of all other Kenyans commenting on
the issue as less intelligent than them. Media reports have shown instances
where doctors have failed to give their version of the story because they feel
the questioners to be of lesser intellect than themselves. This Icarus effect
could cause them to lose moral support due to being seen as aloof and domineering.
This lack of social skills is common in knowledge workers whose profession has
a meritocracy-based hierarchy with a black and white view of facts with no grey
hues. The lack of diplomacy and negotiation skills may partly to blame for the
lack of progress in negotiations on implementation of the CBA.
A robust, resilient health system
is not anchored on only doctors but all health workers and the community too. As
the head of clinical care teams, doctors are entrusted to make the best
decisions on behalf of the team but not in isolation. Doctors cannot claim to
be the only right solution to the jigsaw. They need to realize that their colleagues
in the medical profession, nurses, clinical officers, occupational therapists
and allied health professionals too have a voice in the success of the system
In haphazardly arranged protest
marches and petition presentations, they risk exposing themselves as just
another interested party to healthcare challenges. The petition march scheduled
for later this morning from Milimani courts towards a yet unpublicized location
does not include other stakeholders and is one of the cases of unilateral moves
that risk putting the credibility of the doctors union on the line.
I had noted that the cessation of
the strike by the National Union of Nurses (KNUN) was a pivotal point in the doctors’
strike, as it allowed the government a room to maneuver out of the chokehold of
a health workers strike. This sigh of relief (albeit temporary) by the government
in feeling the wrath of the populace on the #HealthCrisisKE was visible as it gave
the establishment leeway to concentrate on politicking and electioneering at
the expense of settling the matter of industrial action. But with the
possibility of a resumption of the strike by nurses on Tuesday if their
promised allowances are not remitted will reinvigorate the #HealthworkersStrike
and force the government back to the negotiation table on the back foot and
ready to settle the matter.
We can argue that the possible
resumption of nurses’ strike justifies the doctors’ lack of trust in the system
to meet its end of the bargain and you won’t be faulted in thinking that way. The
hypocrisy in the government negotiation team is evident and a radical move by
both the executive and council of governors to reconstitute their teams to have
better negotiators would help to give fresh impetus to the talks for
implementation of the doctors demands and fresh nurses demands.
The doctors however need to
realize they have to be accommodative to building a viable coalition of health
workers and other stakeholders who can jointly demand for better terms of service
and working conditions. They also need to focus on a negotiated mutually
agreeable return to work formula that would ensure implementation of the CBA in
phases and save Kenya the headache of #HealthCrisisKE. Failure to this will
just result in greater suffering to the people of Kenya.
No comments:
Post a Comment