Kenyan doctors at a recent strike over salary and allowances. [Photo/theeastafrican.co.ke]
An MP has called on the government to employ more staff at the Kenyatta National Hospital to ease pressure at the facility.
Dadaab MP Duale Mohamed said on Wednesday Kenya's largest public referral hospital is in dire needs of senior staff to attended to the thousands of patients that visit the hospital every day.
The MP was speaking at KNH after Parliament's Health Committee members visited the hospital to assess the environment under which medics work in the wake of rape claims against patients.
"In our country, we know that currently, the doctor-patient ratio stands at 1:16,000 although the World Health Organisation recommends 1:300," Duale said.
He said as Parliament's Health Committee members, they will push for the employment of more staff at the hospital even it means importing manpower.
KNH is Kenya's largest public referral hospital but the facility is constrained as the staff available cannot handle pressure from patients visiting the facility every day.