Patients suffer as staff shortages and poor services plague public hospitals

• KNH has a bed capacity of 1,800, but has a traffic of 2,500 patients daily
• A parliamentary committee last week expressed concern over “deplorable” state of Govt health institutions
• Some of the irregularities cited included patients sleeping in corridors and waiting areas.

“We have been consulting with the ministry of Social Services as well as the ministry of Health, and are working on a strategic plan to address these challenges.”

On the priority list is modernising the hospital as well as equipping it and all other referral hospitals in the country with necessary treatment facilities.

A visit to Mbagathi District Hospital, which serves as the tuberculosis referral centre in the country, though not as busy as KNH, reveals that the infrastructure is in urgent need of a facelift.

Most of the wards are missing window panes while some glass doors are broken, exposing patients to cold nights.