Patients battle pain and misery as doctors strike enters day three

Helplessness on the part of relatives with patients at public hospitals greeted the second day of the doctors' strike as the sick battled pain and misery.

In Kisumu, Otieno Makaleba’s relatives have lost hope. Emaciated, in pain and weak due to the ravages of disease, the 76-year-old cancer patient lay on the floor at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital.

On Tuesday, his relatives said they had left him at the mercy of God since they could neither transfer him to a private hospital nor clear his huge medical bill.

In the next ward was Kennedy Omware, who had an open wound in his stomach and was being helped to walk as he carried his catheter bag full of urine.

His wound is open and rotting. His wife, Rael, said the family had no money to transfer him to another hospital and they had a bill of Sh30,000.

At Kisumu County Hospital an Aids patient was being helped by a guard to feed.

In Mombasa, when Stephen Mwaura brought his 28-year-old ailing sister for treatment at Coast Provincial General Hospital on December 2, he was optimistic that she would be well and soon they would be back home.

But Mr Mwaura, who hails from Murang’a, said though Emma Waithera was showing signs that she would recover, she died at 11.30am on Tuesday with no doctor or nurse by her side after her condition deteriorated suddenly.

Meanwhile, Stephen Ngang’a, 40, who was in a coma, was discharged from Port Reitz District Hospital on Monday.

His distraught mother and relatives had no choice but to take him away.

INFLUX OF PATIENTS

In Nyeri, private hospitals have been overstretched by an influx of patients from public hospitals.

Mission hospitals such as Consolata Mathari are admitting patients from as far away as Laikipia and Murang’a.

In Kirinyaga, Kerugoya Referral Hospital faced imminent closure after patients were withdrawn due to the ongoing strike by health workers.

A spot check by the Nation on Tuesday established that all the wards were completely deserted, with relatives saying they had to take their kin to private clinics when the striking workers left them unattended.

Others took their patients home to die as they could not afford the high cost of private hospitals and clinics.

In Nairobi, when Lucy Wambui and her 18-year-old nephew Elvis Kinyanjui embarked on a journey to Mbagathi Hospital in search of better care, their hope was to go back home walking hand-in-hand.

Elvis was transferred from Maragua District Hospital two weeks ago after suffering a stroke that left him partially paralysed.

When there was no noticeable change in her nephew’s health, Ms Wambui decided to request a transfer to Mbagathi.

Elvis can neither feed himself nor hold his body in a straight position. He fully relies on the assistance of nurses — who have since gone on strike — or his aunt, who goes to visit him every day.

While he was getting help at the hospital, the nurses prepared his aunt to take over before they went on strike.

Ms Wambui added that she thought the government and doctors would reach an agreement before the strike commenced “but from the look of things, I doubt this will end any time soon.”

PATIENTS TURNED AWAY

At Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH), the number of patients streaming in was low compared with other days, when the hospital receives about 1,400 patients. Clinics were the worst hit, with some patients scheduled for surgery being turned away.

“The doctor called me in the morning to tell me that he could not perform the surgery until further notice,” said a patient who had already paid Sh20,000 for her operation.

Across the road was 25-year-old Donatus Onyango found himself in the same predicament as Ms Wambui, only that for him, he was not able to take home his nine-month old daughter though she had been discharged from Kenyatta National Hospital.

“I travelled overnight from Meru but when I got here, I was informed that the doctor was yet to write the discharge summary, without which I could not settle the bill and take my family home,” he said.

Mr Onyango said that numerous calls to the doctor were futile as no one picked up his phone calls.

“We have been waiting all morning for the doctor to come write the summary with no success,” he explained.

His daughter was admitted to KNH two weeks ago after being diagnosed with a condition known as hydrocephaly, which is caused by an abnormal build-up of cerebrospinal fluid in the ventricles of the brain. The fluid is often under increased pressure and can compress and damage the brain.

Doctors, nurses and clinical officers began a nationwide strike and boycotted work to push the government to implement the terms of a collective bargaining agreement they signed in June 2013.

DEPLORABLE SITUATION

The strike started after a 21-day notice the doctors had issued on November 14 expired on Monday.

As a result, many hospitals were left without medics and patients were left unattended. A spot check by the Nation on Tuesday at KNH, Mbagathi and Mama Lucy hospitals revealed the deplorable situation in which many patients had been left.

When reached for a comment on the impact of the strike, KNH’s Chief Executive officer Lily Koros said: “We are still assessing the situation before acting.”

Reported by Angela Oketch, Emeka-Mayaka Gekara, Winnie Atieno, Irene Mugo, George Munene and Elizabeth Merab.