Operations at Naivasha subcounty hospital were paralysed for hours after area residents stormed the facility to protest the death of an eight-month-old under unclear circumstances.
Emotions ran high in the facility as the relatives and members of the public accused the management of negligence leading to the death of the minor.
Anti-riot police had to be called in to control the situation leading to more chaos in which several journalists were assaulted and injured as screams and wails rent the busy facility.
However, speaking on the phone, the Superintendent in charge of the hospital Dr Bernard Warui called for patience adding that investigations into the incident had started.
“We don’t know the cause of death but we have launched investigations to establish what transpired from the moment that the minor was brought in,” he said.
Trouble started after the minor who was wheeled in with breathing complications passed on as the medics on duty changed shifts with relatives alleging negligence.
The incident comes barely a month after a 40-year-old man died in the same facility leading to a clash between family members and the hospital staff.
Late last year, the county assembly on health was informed that over ten newborn babies died in one month after incubators in the maternity wing malfunctioned.
In the latest incident, the minor was brought in by the mother with breathing complications before passing on a couple of hours after arrival.
According to Sam Maina, an uncle to the deceased, the minor was first put on oxygen and her condition stabilised with the mother even breastfeeding her.
He said trouble started as the medics moved in to change shifts where the oxygen was allegedly disconnected leaving the minor with breathing complications again.
“We tried to engage the medics to attend to the baby but they told us that their shift was over and in the process the baby passed on” he said.
The emotional mother Beth Njoroge pointed at the medics for the loss of her baby saying that they ignored her pleas when she developed breathing complications.
“I told them several times that the baby had developed breathing problems again but they ignored me leading to her death,” she said before breaking into tears.
In the last couple of weeks, the Nakuru county government has been in the news over the wrangles in War Memorial Hospital leading to its closure and affecting tens of dialysis patients.
