Duale Orders Crackdown On Dodgy Public Doctors, Hospitals
On December 16, Health Cabinet Secretary (CS) Aden Duale ordered a further crackdown on doctors accused of making money from private clinics during official working hours.
The CS stated that the activity constituted fraud against the public health system.
Duale claimed the practice has grown, with doctors stationed in government facilities referring patients to private hospitals where they operate or work.
He claimed that the practice denied public hospitals both patients and revenue, despite the fact that the doctors worked for the government from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
“It has become so rampant that doctors working in Government facilities are opting to send patients to private facilities they are operating in and either denying the facilities that pay them salaries or disregarding them completely,” the CS said.
Duale Warns Doctors:
— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) December 16, 2025
Duale warns govt doctors running private clinics
Duale: They divert patients from public to private clinics
Njuki: Those doctors have made hospitals detention centres#CitizenExplainer pic.twitter.com/xi1sxcFR6U
The CS spoke in Tharaka Nithi County at the opening of Chuka Level 5 Hospital’s new ultra-modern Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and amenities wing.
He stated that beginning in January, new measures would be used to punish doctors who were found working elsewhere during official hours while affiliated with public facilities.
“Doctors keen on earning on locum at office hours, between 8am and 5 PM, are committing fraud,” Duale said.
He provided the example of Kenyatta National Hospital, which he claimed had 26 completely equipped theatres staffed by top specialists.
Patients were frequently offered review or surgery dates two months out, only to be approached later by aides offering next-day operations at private institutions.
Duale urged the Digital Health Authority to take action against any doctor registered in a public hospital who submitted claims from private facilities during working hours.
Tharaka Nithi Governor Muthomi Njuki backed the warning and accused some doctors of using public hospitals as retention grounds for private practice.
“Some doctors were extremely ambitious but wanted many jobs to make more money,” Njuki said.
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He further added that some county hospitals were better equipped than the private facilities to which patients were being referred to.
He also added that monetary incentives were driving some doctors to deny public facilities resources.
Duale said doctors’ unions had also been put on notice over the practice, and accountability would be enforced across the public health system.
The ICU commissioned in Tharaka Nithi was the first of its kind in the region, with an initial five-bed capacity and two isolation units for critically ill patients.
Duale Orders Crackdown On Dodgy Public Doctors, Hospitals
