Hospital attendants, others demand K10bn in arrears
Government is yet to honour a 2008 Ombudsman’s determination for the Ministry of Health to award top up allowances to hospital attendants and clerks.
According to Third Arm Health Workers National Initiative, a network for health workers pushing for the allowances, the stipends have since accumulated to over K10 billion.
The network’s representative Balawala Vingula said in an interview this week that the lower grade staffs, who include laundry assistants, demand that government clears the arrears in 60 days.
The Office of the Ombudsman launched an inquiry in 2006 following complaints that some of the health workers were not receiving top up allowances because the Ministry of Health felt they were ineligible as they are not health workers.
However, in its 2008 determination, the Ombudsman the Ministry of Health three months include the hospital attendants, ward clerks and laundry assistants on the list of beneficiaries of top up allowances.
Office of the Ombudsman stated in the determination: “…in respect to Section 3 (1) (2) (a) (b) of the Government Health Service Act of 2002 on the definition of a health worker, hospital attendants, ward clerks and laundry assistants are also health workers as such they too are eligible for the top up allowance”.
Vingula said they are surprised that 16 years after the determinations government still does not treat them as health workers.
“Health facilities cannot run if we down our tools. For example, if laundry assistants can stop washing beddings for patients, sanitation will worsen in public hospitals.
Therefore, government must listen to us,” he said, adding that 1 000 of his colleagues have waited for too long.
Health rights activist George Yobe yesterday said the policy was supposed to be clear on its workers in the health sector.
“These developments show that policies need to be enhanced for workers in the health sector. Who deserves which benefits and justification for that need must be put in black and white,” he said.
Ministry of Health officials did not respond to our requests for explanations.
In July this year the Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament summoned ministries of Health, Transport, Agriculture, and Natural Resources for failure to adhere to the Ombudsman’s determinations.
According to the Ombudsman, only three of the 41 determinations made to government ministries, departments and agencies in 2023 were adhered to while 38 determinations were disobeyed.
