Assess performance of Cuban doctors

It is now six months since the government brought in Cuban doctors and deployed them to hospitals across the country to provide specialised healthcare and improve medical services.

Cuba has a reputation for the quality of the doctors it produces. So, part of the deal was that the medics would transfer skills to locals to enhance competences. On paper, this was a plausible move.

Having served for a while, it is pertinent to review the impact of their services.

To this extent, the Kenya Medical Association (KMA) is raising questions about qualifications, competence and viability of having the doctors.

At the core of the matter is the cost of hiring and keeping them and the commensurate returns to the public.

Tied to this is the fact that many qualified Kenyan doctors are unemployed and those in service are on low pay, raising questions on the rationale of recruiting the Cubans expensively and leaving out locals.

But that is one side of the argument. Probably, the debate will be settled when the cost-benefit analysis is done.

Provision of quality medical care remains a major challenge. Healthcare is devolved.

However, the counties continue to struggle with managing the services due to lack of funding, poor supervision and insufficient infrastructure.

Perennial strikes by doctors, nurses and other medical professionals due to poor terms and conditions of service exemplify the problems afflicting the sector.

Although the counties have since welcomed the Cubans, they initially had reservations due to the cost of keeping them.

With the emerging debate about the quality of the doctors, it is pertinent to conduct an audit to determine the value they have added and lessons learnt.

Counties also continue to grapple with leased medical equipment that was negotiated by the national government and handed over to them at exorbitant prices.

In recent times, the costs have risen drastically, causing jitters among the counties.

Yet in some counties, the equipment has never been put to use either for lack of supporting infrastructure or personnel to handle them.

Given the difficulties faced in the provision of medical care, undertakings such as importation of doctors make a lot of sense.

But that should be temporal. And while it lasts, there ought to be constant checks to ascertain its value for money.

The bigger question, however, is the state of the country’s medical service delivery that compels the government to bring on board foreign doctors.

It is incumbent on the national and county governments to think properly about medical care provision with a view to ensuring self-sufficiency and sustainability.