Patients at Kisii hospital complain of staff laxity

Service delivery at the Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital (KTRH) has deteriorated, shaming a facility that enjoys big funding from the county government.

A few weeks ago, Nation staff in Kisii visited a colleague’s wife after she had delivered a baby boy.

She had been admitted after a caesarean section and was doing fine two days after the operation. On the opposite end of the hospital, a young woman also had a successful delivery.

She however looked withdrawn and disturbed. Clearly, all was not well. The woman grumbled as she twisted and turned in her bed before taking her baby and handing it over to her shocked husband.

“I do not want to see it. Why would I hold a dead body,” she told her husband and other relatives who had visited her at Ward 8, which houses infants and their mothers.

CUSTOMER CARE

The woman was suffering from post-partum post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following childbirth. However, none of the nurses was willing to attend to her.

The level six hospital serves over six million people in Kisii, Nyamira, Migori, Homa Bay, Kisumu, Kericho and Trans Mara.

Governor James Ongwae holds it dear to his heart and boasts of its success in promoting devolution in the populous county.

However, residents are complaining of arrogant staff who mishandle patients and are doing little to promote smooth delivery of healthcare services.

“We have a problem, here doctors and nurses do not even bother to explain a patient’s condition to those who care,” Mr John Moracha, a resident, said.

He noted that the perception is that they are doing a favour to patients.

Further, patients at the hospital have also decried of lack of water and they are forced to buy medicine.

INVESTMENT

At the radiology section, patients said it takes up to three weeks for an x-ray to be interpreted.

Governor Ongwae promised to look into the concerns and hinted at transferring medical staff to turn around the facility.

He noted that the county will continue to invest substantial resources in the health sector.

“For instance, we have increased the number of specialists to 23 up from two in 2013. We have also increased the number of doctors to 170 up from 79 in 2013,” Mr Ongwae said.

He said a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine — the first in the region, CT scans and digital X-rays have also been bought.

“We have also received Sh2 billion for the construction of a modern cancer diagnostic and treatment centre. We will soon break ground for the project.”