Report: Shalom Hospital flouted patient care procedures
Vincent Njau (left) Irene Katete and Kennedy Odhiambo appear in Machakos Law Courts on May 9, 2019 where they were charged with causing the death of Baby Ethan Muendo at Shalom Community Hospital. They denied the charges and were released on a Sh500,000 bond each. PHOTO | STEPHEN MUTHINI | NATION | MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
The report reveals the treatment area was manned by an untrained attendant who is not allowed to prescribe or administer medication.
Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua recommended the arrest of the health workers implicated in the death of the baby.
Shalom Hospital, the facility in which a seven-month old baby died due to an overdose of morphine injection, has been violating several patient care procedures, a report has revealed.
The hospital failed to hire senior doctors for specialised care, while the nurse in charge – often referred in hospital set ups as ‘matron’— does not know of the rota, a document with information on staff on duty.
RISK
This was revealed by a report by the task force formed to investigate the circumstances that lead to Baby Ethan Muendo’s death.
It has been revealed that the treatment area was manned by an untrained attendant who is not allowed to prescribe or administer medication.
The two-page document also lists a series of breach of patient care guidelines that may have put the lives of patients seeking care at the hospital at risk.
MORPHINE
The Pharmacy and Poisons Board, which was part of the task force, did not comment on how the hospital was allowed to stock a dangerous drug like Morphine without knowing who was going to handle it.
Morphine is classified as a restricted drug that is only stocked in hospitals with proof that there are personnel that can administer it.
Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua recommended the arrest of the health workers implicated in the death of the baby.
It was not clear whether the county’s health department had inspected health facilities.
