Nairobi: Healthcare professional associations have called for urgent measures to restore health services and clear patient backlogs following the end of the 43-day nurses’ strike. The associations welcomed the resolution of the industrial action following an agreement between the Kenya National Union of Nurses and Midwives (KNUNM) and the Council of Governors (CoG), saying the return of nurses to health facilities would bring relief to patients and the wider health system.
According to Kenya News Agency, National Nurses Association of Kenya (NNAK) President Collins Otieno Ajwang commended the union leadership and county governments for resolving the dispute through dialogue. ‘We commend the union leadership and county governments for choosing constructive dialogue to break the weeks-long deadlock,’ Ajwang said. He noted that nurses account for nearly 70 per cent of Kenya’s healthcare workforce, adding that their return to public health facilities would help restore care for millions of Kenyans.
The associations reported that nurses across all 47 counties were returning to their clinical stations, with priority expected in critical areas including maternal, neonatal, emergency, and specialised care. They urged facility managers and health administration teams to support healthcare workers as they clear service backlogs and attend to patients whose care may have been delayed during the strike.
The professional bodies further called on the national and county governments, including the CoG, to honour commitments made under the agreement and address healthcare workers’ concerns in a timely manner. They emphasized that resolving workforce grievances early through constructive dialogue would help strengthen confidence among healthcare workers, safeguard continuity of care, and reduce the risk of future disruptions to essential health services.
The associations also urged the two levels of government to use the end of the strike as an opportunity to address underlying weaknesses in health workforce management, including predictable financing and the welfare and terms of healthcare workers serving under Universal Health Coverage (UHC) programmes. ‘This agreement should not be viewed as the end of the conversation but as an opportunity to address the vulnerabilities that contributed to this prolonged disruption,’ the professional bodies said.
They called for healthcare workers to be provided with adequate resources, support, and conducive working environments to enable them to deliver safe and dignified care. The associations stated their readiness to collaborate with the Ministry of Health, CoG, Parliament, and other health-sector partners to advance lasting policy reforms and strengthen a healthcare system that puts patients and quality care at the center.
