The Industrial and Labour Relations Court on Tuesday ordered the striking doctors to resume work with immediate effect after it declared their strike illegal.
The court further directed union officials to call off the strike that began last week, saying it has paralysed operations and resulted in the deaths of about 20 people, the Star has reported.
The directive by Judge Hellen Wasilwa to the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) and the Kenya National Union of Nurses (KNUN) bosses to use their powers to order their members to report back towork came even as medics from private hospitals vowed to join their counterparts from public hospitals to force the government to listen to their demands.
The doctors and nurses unions are demanding a 300 per cent pay rise and 25 to 40 per cent hike respectively.
They say they had signed a Collective Bargaining Agreement with the government in 2013 which is yet to be implemented.