The Nairobi Metropolitan Services has requested the Interior Ministry to provide health facilities opened by the President with security to allow them operate 24 hours.
It has emerged that despite the plan being that the hospitals operate round the clock, some operate only during the day due to security challenges posed on both the equipment and the staff.
For instance, the facility in Tassia aimed to serve at least 320,000 residents operated for 24 hours for only one month but was hampered by insecurity in the area.
The Director Health Services at NMS Dr Ouma Oluga on Friday acknowledged that the hospitals by nature of their location being in informal settlements have been affected by insecurity.
“This was started at the beginning but there are challenges with a few facilities Tassia being one of them and it is because of security but in terms of service delivery the infrastructure is there, the staff is there. As you know that facility is not yet fenced and secured,” Oluga said.
According to Oluga, other facilities where insecurity has hampered 24 hours service delivery are the ones located in Ngomongo and Zimmerman.
“So our assurances is that in the next one month we have been told that by December 1, there will be government security services within Tassia because the equipment must be secured, the staff must be secured but yes we do want to apologise and assure members of the public that this will be restored soon,” Oluga said.
He added: “These are temporary challenges which is a security issue but there is a request already made to the ministry of interior and they are already doing the necessary arrangements to make sure that this is sustained.”
President Uhuru Kenyatta in August last year directed NMS to construct 24 hospitals across the informal settlements to make healthcare accessible, with 19 to be built from scratch.
Some of the hospitals commissioned so far include Gichagi in Kangemi, Mukuru Kwa Reuben, Our Lady of Nazareth in Mukuru Kwa Njenga with others opened in Uthiru, Kiamaiko and Kayole Soweto.
The president noted that building the facilities had helped decongest the Kenyatta National Hospital which is the country’s largest referral facility.
“We also want to request the residents because the insecurity is caused by the people around there, if they were to own up these facilities as we have put these facilities for their own good then it also lessens the amount of investment that we have to make to secure the facilities for staff to provide services 24 hours.”
President Uhuru directed that the facilities offer 24 hour services to the residents in the respective informal settlements.
Uhuru noted that most hospitals opened between 8 am and 6 pm locking out most residents seeking health services at night, hence forcing them to go the KNH.
Edited by B. Oruta
