• Kakamega Level 5 Hospital fails to meet Level 5 standards in obstetrics and gynaecology
• Doctors threatened to withdraw inpatient, surgical and clinical services until problem is remedied
Image: HILTON OTENYO
Does Kakamega Level 5 Hospital provide Level 5 care, especially to pregnant women and those giving birth?
No, it lacks vital drugs, supplies and services, say doctors who threaten to withdraw surgical, inpatient and clinical services until the hospital meets standards and is properly equipped.
They cited the lack of essential services at the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Unit, but lack of drugs and supplies affects the entire hospital.
The doctors said in a letter to the county Health chief officer Dr David Allila on Friday the unit lacks pharmaceuticals and other other supplies and equipment to enable them to perform their duties.
We are forced to send patients to buy these essential drugs and obtain services before admission or offering emergency surgical or medical care...Obstetricians and gynecologists
They listed lack of oral and para-enteral antibiotics, anticonvulsants, analgesia, antihypertensives and gauze, endotracheal tubes, essential anesthetic drugs, giving birth sets, blades and broken down diathermy machines.
Others are laboratory and diagnostic services such as full haemogramme and renal function test equipment, coagulation and thyroid profile equipment, blood grouping and crossmatching, culture, and immunological tests and imaging services like obstetric ultrasounds, CT and MRI services.
Hospital officials said only the hospital was open and operating.
“Currently we are forced to send patients to buy these essential drugs and obtain services before admission or offering emergency surgical or medical care. As a result, this leads to delay in service delivery with suboptimal care and clinical outcomes,” they said.
“Ultimately we are exposing our patients to more harm which goes against our Hippocratic Oath of to do no harm. This in turn also has medical-legal implications for all the medical workers in the unit,” the letter read further.
The letter is signed by the head of the Gynaecology unit, Dr Geoffrey Matete, and Dr Geoffrey Mutakha and Alexandre St Love who are OBGYN consultants.
They threatened to stop offering inpatient medical and surgical care in the unit and suspended all elective theatres and clinics indefinitely.
The consultants said in their letter there was increased levels of maternal, foetal and neonatal morbidity and mortality in the unit.
When reached for comment, health services director Dr Bernard Wesonga said the hospital was operating, without addressing issues raised by the doctors about lack of essentials.
“Yes there are issues with supplies and equipment in the unit but we’re still working,” Matete said on Monday.
The situation in other units was not known.
County director of communication Sumba Juma said some supplies had been mobilised to keep unit running.
This comes barely three weeks after Governor Fernandes Barasa launches the Kakamega Health Fund that gives all health facilities in the county autonomy to collect, plan and spent revenue they raise.
While launching the fund on June 21, he said that the department of finance and economic planning had transferred Sh59 million to the fund as seed money.
The fund gives financial autonomy to health facilities in the county and establishes a legal framework to manage their funds to ensure an effective, efficient and sustainable healthcare system at all levels of healthcare.
“All our health facilities will be able to raise revenue, retain the collections and use the funds generated to improve health services for the residents of Kakamega county starting from July 1, 2023,” Barasa said.
The fund seeks to address inherent delays in disbursement of funds by the National Treasury that have always resulted in problems in the health sector, including shortage of essential drugs and commodities that affect the quality of health services.
Health is the leading revenue stream in the county but the county executive has previously been accused of failure to use revenue generated by the department to develop it and provide better services.
Critics claim the money has been diverted to other departments, especially infrastructure.