Mombasa Governor and Council of Governors Health Committee Chair Abdullswamad Sheriff Nassir has warned healthcare workers against conducting private business while on duty in public hospitals, saying the practice amounts to corruption and undermines service delivery.
Speaking at the 4th Devolution Sensitization Week in Garissa, Nassir said county governments spend billions of shillings training healthcare workers, equipping hospitals and paying salaries, and Kenyans deserve efficient services in return.
“Accountability in healthcare is accountability to the mwananchi. County governments invest heavily in training our healthcare workers, equipping our facilities and paying salaries, and the public deserves a fair return through reliable, quality services. Going forward, we will strengthen supervision and accountability across our facilities,” he said.
The governor said counties would intensify oversight of health facilities to ensure staff remain available to patients during official working hours.
“No healthcare worker should be conducting private business when they are meant to be serving patients in a public facility. That is an abuse of public time and public resources, and we must be prepared to treat it for what it is, a form of corruption,” Nassir said.
He added that while counties are committed to improving the welfare of healthcare workers, the workers must also uphold professional standards and serve the public diligently.
Nassir also used the forum to renew calls for the restoration of conditional grants for Level 5 hospitals, arguing that counties continue to bear the financial burden of operating referral facilities after the grants were withdrawn.
“When the Constitution was enacted and the initial framework was developed, Level 5 hospitals were receiving conditional grants. Those grants had a time frame because it was expected that every county would eventually have its own Level 5 hospital. However, we are now seeing some Level 5 hospitals being taken over because some counties have been unable to sustain them. Governor Nathif and I, together with other governors, believe that instead of upgrading some Level 5 hospitals into Level 6 facilities and creating a gap, it would be better to restore conditional grants to Level 5 hospitals so that we can strengthen them together,” he said.
According to Nassir, restoring the grants would help counties improve specialised healthcare services and reduce pressure on national referral hospitals.
He urged the National Government to focus its direct investments on Level 6 referral hospitals while supporting counties through conditional grants for Level 5 facilities, saying better coordination between the two levels of government would improve healthcare access and outcomes across the country.
