Clinical officers have secured higher pay after the Government agreed to a new pay structure following week-long talks with their representatives.
The deal is good news to clinical officers at intern level, who have been included in the new structure. The revision of the clinicians’ pay structure has been informed by a memo originating from the Ministry of Health that faulted a recent job evaluation report by the Sarah Serem-led Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC).
According to the memo, SRC had categorised clinicians ‘wrongly’ in band B, according to the Paterson job grading system.
This meant that clinicians were considered as low or semi-skilled professionals whose decisions cannot be relied on at their places of work.
The ministry insisted that there was a need to revise their job groups in order to attract more clinicians.
Out of 20,000 registered clinical officers in the counties, only 5,000 work in the public sector.
“Clinical officers are the largest workforce in the Kenyan health sector. They are responsible for taking patient history, examining and investigating, diagnosing, and treating well over 70 per cent of patients,” read the memo dated July 7.
It added that clinicians are also managers and in charge of primary health care in facilities that include 4,920 dispensaries, 1,043 health centres, and 349 level four hospitals.
“To be able to attract and retain clinical personnel in public service, there is a need to raise their entry level,” read the memo. According to the draft, it is proposed that clinical officers joining the field at intern level as degree holders enter at job group C5 from SRC’s C3.
While the earlier grade did not recognise interns who are diploma holders, the new job scale has placed them at a newly introduced grade of C2.
