Gatanga Member of Parliament Edward Muriu is planning to table a bill that would transfer some healthcare functions from counties to an independent commission akin to the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) which manages some functions in the education sector.
Muriu claimed that Governors have no clue on how to manage health services in the counties despite the same being a devolved function under the Fourth Schedule of the Constitution.
The MP in a statement disclosed that he would commence a legislative action to create a commission that will manage the welfare of healthcare staff among other functions currently with the counties.
"We need to create Doctors and Nurses Service Commission which will be answerable to the counties and the 47 Governors," he noted.
"The Commission will be the employer and will be posting and supervising the doctors' and nurses' performance in the counties."
Currently, individual counties hire staff and manage hospitals.
Since 2013, the country has witnessed medical staff strike, blaming the devolved units for mismanaging healthcare.
Delays in disbursements from the Treasury to the devolved units in the past have seen doctors and nurses go without salaries, sometimes even for months.
Under the plan, the Doctors and Nurses Service Commission (DNSC) will be an independent body that will be responsible for the management of all public hospitals and health facilities.
" I have Firm instructions from the great people of Gatanga Constituency to table this motion before Parliament and come up with a suitable Act of Parliament to operationalize the commission," Muriu stated.
According to the MP, the commission would also provide accountability and transparency, and it would help address issues affecting medical staff in public health facilities.
Medical professionals through the Kenya Medical Practitioners Pharmacists Dentists Union (KMPDU) have in the past called for some functions to be transferred back to the national government.
Critics of the calls however have demanded that the government should devolve more health funds to the county government to cushion them from the cash crunch.
