By Enock Nyankieya
Kakamega County Health Executive Dr Bernard Wesonga knows well the dictum “first do no harm.’
He was kicked into medical mode by the biting doctors and clinical officers strike which has paralysed medical services in public hospitals across the 47 counties.
On Tuesday 2, Dr Wesonga was compelled to roll up his sleeves and attend to a patient in need of specialised treatment at the County General Hospital theatre.
Accompanied by two doctors and three nurses, he managed to conduct a successful surgery operation on a woman who would later give birth through cesarean delivery.
“What I am doing is what a trained doctor should do because we took an oath of office, I consider my profession a calling and I have always been on higher alert even after quitting active practice several years back,” said the doctor.
“It is an exciting moment to be back to theatre after many years and not only the experience of putting on a lab coat, stethoscope, and surgical cap but the excitement is about saving a life. I attended to the woman as lead doctor together with our medics and we successfully operated on her to save her life and that of her baby,” said Wesonga
“We are trained to save lives and it doesn’t mean that if I am a CEC, Cabinet Secretary, or any other top position in government, I cannot serve beyond my current position. I am a trained doctor and I feel so happy to treat our people who are in dire need of getting treatment,” said the official who was wearing an official coat.
The County Health chief says the last time he stepped in a theatre was seven years ago while working at the Aga Khan Hospital.
“What I am doing is what a trained doctor should do because we took an oath of office, I consider my profession a calling and I have always been on higher alert even after quitting active practice several years back,” said the doctor.
According to Wesonga, Tuesday 2 reminded him of the good old days when he was ever on call. “The act was one of the best moments in my life in my line of duty because in most public health facilities across the country, patients are suffering, and when I get an opportunity I have to use it to treat people and save lives.”
Clad in a white lab coat and armed with a telescope, Dr Wesonga was busy attending to patients at the County General Hospital yesterday as if nothing serious was happening in the health sector.
Apparently not many nurses who saw Dr Wesonga attend to patients in a professional way could imagine he was up to the task. Some were shocked to learn the county official is a trained medical doctor.
The physician doctor says he has decided to put on the lab coat and feel the gap created by the ongoing doctors strike.
“If my memory serves me well I have treated people at the maternity wing more than four times and I have gone to theatre once when there was a need to save life,” said Wesonga.
Wesonga said his conscience would not allow him to watch as patients in dire need of medical services suffer because there are no doctors to attend to them at the public health facilities in the county.
“Today I am a happy county worker not as a CECM for health but as a trained doctor, I have attended to a mother who was to be discharged on Wednesday and she is safe and in good condition to leave the facility,” said Wesonga.
The official says since day one of the doctor’s strike he has treated several patients especially whenever he is free and during emergencies.
“If my memory serves me well I have treated people at the maternity wing more than four times and I have gone to theatre once when there was a need to save life,” said Wesonga.
He added: “I was doing my normal routine check on health activities running amid the strike and I was told there was an emergency for a woman who needed to undergo an operation to deliver, I stepped in quickly and successfully conducted the operation.”
Dr Wesonga wants the national government, counties and healthcare workers to have a modality that guarantees continuous delivery of health services even in times of strike.
“The sanctity of human life supersedes picketing by our healthcare workers, moving forward we need to have a solution for any industrial action. We need to have a way of ensuring that we have a limited number of those going on strike to ensure a continuous discharge of medical services so that we don’t jeopardize the right to life and treatment,” said Wesonga.
On the preparedness due to ongoing doctors and clinical officers’ strike, Wesonga said Kakamega County has employed doctors on a temporary basis to offer critical services.
“We have consulted our governor and through his support, we have been able to hire LOCUM doctors temporarily to work with our nurses to ensure we have a continuous service delivery,” said Wesonga.
“In critical sections like ICU, Renal, Theatres, and Maternity we are offering services but in clinics where the services of specific doctors are required, we have problems but we plan to hire more doctors on temporary arrangement to forestall challenges such as strikes,” noted the official.
Dr Wesonga said the county has promoted 27 doctors adding that they are remitting doctor’s statutory deductions.
He said: “We are currently remitting statutory deductions for our healthcare workers and hope to clear it soon. We have also promoted 27 doctors and we were in the last stage of recruiting over 100 health workers but removal of the county public service board derailed the process.”
Before his appointment as the county health boss, Dr Wesonga who hails from Koyonzo ward in Matungu, Kakamega County was the Head of the Medicine Department at Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology (MMUST).
He is accredited for starting the University’s school of medicine. Dr Wesonga also worked as a medical doctor at Kenyatta National Hospital and later at the Aga Khan Hospital.
Wesonga,60, joined the University of Nairobi in 1986 for a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery before specializing as a physician. He also holds a Master’s Degree in Public Health.
