Poor delivery of services in our public hospitals is a reality that has been silently put up with. The media may often highlight cases of medical malpractice meted on helpless patients in public hospitals that elicit anger from the public but with little action taken by the government to effectively resolve the cases.
Daily, many Kenyans die in our public health institutions at the hands of public health care providers due to negligence. Many cases of patient complaints are coming to the public domain with little resultant action to resolve the cases. There is little genuine effort in resolving the numerous patient complaints. Public health institutions meant to foster care and treatment of patients have become indifferent to the plight of the suffering.
Recently, the media has reported a number of deaths due to negligence by health institutions and practitioners, some of which would seem, even to a layman to be straight cases of negligence. A case in point is the Kitui District Hospital incident, where a new mother died after a surgical towel was left in her womb following an operation. The pathologists gave their findings and all the government said was they would investigate further and culprits brought to book. It has been almost a month and no feedback is forthcoming.
The death of a 12-year-old at Kenyatta National Hospital in April, who doctors said she was pretending, elicited hue and cry from the public. The director of Medical Services assured the public that investigations would be done. The silence has been deafening, five months later. Thika Level 5 Hospital has been in the news lately with mysterious deaths of a number of babies. All we have been treated to is the same story of investigations being done. For how long will the public continue to be treated to this mockery? How many more must die before something is done?
The Ministry of Medical Services must immediately institute a mechanism for dealing and resolving patients grievances and complaints against public health institutions and their staff. In this same spirit, these disputes must be made public and accountability and integrity publicly upheld in order to end impunity by medical professionals. Medical professionals are a law unto themselves. This means doctors have been venerated to positions where they cannot be held accountable for their actions and patients have little recourse in cases where they have suffered injustice in the hands of a medical/health practitioner.
The Medical Practitioners and Dentist Board was established by the Medical Practitioners and Dentists Act of (1978) to look into cases of negligence and malpractices and to also ensure that the medical practitioners strictly adhere to the code of conduct and ethics by which they are governed. It is sad to however note that since inception, the public knows very little about the work of this board and majority have no faith in its ability to deal with the many cases of malpractices reported.
Many a time, the board will only be heard when media and the public highlight cases of malpractices. We are then treated to the usual rant of promises of investigations being done and culprits brought to book. That is the last the public ever hears until another incident is reported. The findings of these investigations that are purportedly prosecuted are however not in the public domain. The board will argue that they are not allowed to publicise their findings. The board, under Section 20 of the Act is allowed to deregister any practitioner or cancel any license granted to any individual who has been found guilty of malpractices.
Laws are man-made and if they do not work in the interest of the public then they should be done away with. It is time the public demands to know what this board has achieved in its 30 plus years of existence. The Medical Practitioners Act gives the Health Minister powers to revoke or annul the appointment or nomination of any member of the board or reconstitute another board altogether. Does the minister(s) believe that this board has lived to its mandate? The public should immediately demand to have a competent and independent medical panel/committee that has authority to probe, prescribe and punish cases of medical malpractices!
Mwongera is the CEO of the Morris Moses Foundation, a charitable organisation established in 2009 to help Kenyans access quality health care regardless of their financial capacity.
