Patient collapses and dies at Bungoma hospital after four-hour wait on queue

A patient has collapsed and died at Bungoma County Referral Hospital after waiting on the queue to be treated for over four hours.

Witnesses told Nation.co.ke that David Wekesa Kibui arrived at the hospital shortly after 8am in the company of his wife Emily and proceeded straight to a queue as they waited to be attended to.

But four hours later, witnesses say, he had not been attended to.

According to his wife, they had rushed him to the facility after he developed complications while at home.

“It is sad that this has happened,” she said.

The death has sparked demonstrations at the hospital, with residents demanding answers.

They have accused doctors and nurses of negligence.

Mr Godfrey Juma, a witness, said they were shocked to learn that the patient had not received any treatment for that long despite ‘being in bad shape.’

“He clearly was not fine. He was in bad shape and appeared to me that he required urgent medical attention,” said Mr Juma.

He said their pleas to the medical staff to assist the man fell on deaf ears.

“They simply ignored us and continued attending to other patients,” he said.

“It’s really unfortunate that this had to happen…it is a death that could have easily been prevented had the nurses considered our plea,” he added.

The residents protesting the incident, accused staff at the medical facility of being inept while calling for their transfer.

“We want other nurses who are committed to doing their work brought to this facility,” said Mr Juma.

They accused the nurses of abdicating their duties and leaving interns to do the bulk of the work.

Contacted, the hospital’s Medical Superintendent, Dr Magrina Mayama, disputed claims that the patient had been neglected for Four hours.

Dr Mayama said the patient was brought in by a relative at about 11.30am on a motorbike and requested for assistance.

“Our staff received the patient, placed him on a stretcher ready for treatment, only to realize that he had died,” she said.

“He was not on the queue as it is being alleged. We value our patients and there is no way we can treat them as is being alleged,” he explained.

Dr Magrina further said that the relative who took the deceased to hospital started wailing after being informed that the deceased had died which then attracted the crowd prompting the demonstration.

She said the commotion and hostility prevented them from taking the body inside the facility for examination to ascertain the cause of death.

“We tried to bring the body in so that a doctor can examine and establish the cause of his death but the hostility prevented us from doing so and the family has decided to take the body back home,” she said.