President William Ruto’s senior economic advisor Moses Kuria has pointed out that the Social Health Authority (SHA) is not discriminatory saying it is as efficient at the private hospitals as it is in the public hospitals.
Speaking at Spice FM on Monday, Kuria said the government is working towards ensuring that Kenyans can get health services from both state-owned and private facilities, without much hassle.
“The thing about those level 2, 3, 4 and level 5 hospitals is that they are not the only ones under SHA. You get treated in a private hospital in exactly the same way you will be treated in a public hospital. SHA does not discriminate,” he said.
Kuria said besides this being a benefit to patients, it has also served as a wake-up call for governors to improve the public hospitals under their administration.
He added that the “sibling competition” between the private and public facilities, will see a mutual improvement, leading to a “self-correcting system”.
Commenting on the SHA system, Kuria said the numbers at level 5 and level 6 hospitals like Kenyatta National Hospital are overwhelming, resulting in the glitch.
He said a lot of people trying to access the system led to a misalignment of a piece of technology called the providers portal.
He confidently stated that no patient is being turned away at the public hospitals, saying the issues of system downtime have since been dealt with.
He invited Kenyans to text him with their details and health facilities in case they were turned away.
Kuria admitted that the SHA implementation is far from over, noting that the rolling out of such a system is unprecedented.
“We are working on progress. I am not claiming perfection. But what I am claiming is that every single problem that happens becomes an opportunity for us to fix the system,” Kuria said.
