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.

Last month’s Public Service Week activities were greeted with a lot of anticipation. Thousands who thronged the Kenyatta International Conference Centre, and other venues across the country, hoped that, finally, service delivery would improve in public hospitals.

A month later, in a corridor of Kenyatta National Hospital, it appears that the anticipation may have been premature – at least in Government health facilities.

On a Monday, at around 1.30pm, a middle-aged man is seated outside the X-ray section at KNH. He clutches a brown envelope and a sheaf of papers in one hand.

He is focused on the woman lying on the bench beside him, occasionally leaning over to tell her something. She is in obvious pain, tossing and turning, trying to find a comfortable position.

Doris Gathurima, and her husband, Jeremano, arrived at the hospital at 8am but had not yet seen a doctor. Doris, a cancer patient, was hoping to get a prescription for her chest pain.

“We had to wait for three hours to get an X-ray done,” Jeremano offers wearily.

But the visit was in vain because they have just been informed that the doctor cannot see them today. No amount of pleading convinces a lady in a white coat to sneak the results to the doctor.

“Rudi kesho tu,” (Just come back tomorrow) is her unhelpful reply.

Wait a month

This is not the couple’s first visit to the hospital. They seek most of their medical care here because they cannot afford treatment at private hospitals.

Last year, Doris had a mastectomy after a cancerous lump was discovered in her left breast. Early last month, when she discovered a lump in her right breast, she and her husband boarded a matatu from their Kasarani home to the city centre then another to KNH. A mammogram confirmed that there was indeed a lump in her right breast.

In what seemed like complete disregard for her health, Doris was informed that she would have to wait close to a month before learning the results.

“We’re really struggling to pay for her treatment, it is only fair that we receive better treatment than this,” Jeremano protests, as he helps his wife to the bus stop.

Two days later, we call Jeremano to find out whether his wife was treated. He informs us that they did see a doctor, but only got painkillers for the chest pain. They were asked to return the following week for a blood test. The Gathurimas have no choice but to consent.

KNH is one of only two public health institutions equipped with machines for treating cancer. The other is Kisumu District Hospital, though mechanical problems make its machines unreliable.