- The committee will be inviting the management of both the county and the hospital at a date yet to be communicated.
- The hospital management will have to explain why they opted to refer a patient to Kiambu Hospital and not KNH yet it was a matter of urgency.
Image: SAKAJA'S FACEBOOK PAGE
Senators and the family of a woman who died in an alleged case of negligence at Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital have called for the temporary closure of the facility.
The family lawyer Bonventure Otieno and the senators have termed the hospital as a 'death chamber' where patients are taken to slaughter.
The lawyer has recommended that all patients who are currently admitted to the facility remain there but the hospital should not be allowed to admit more patients until they can put their acts together.
“If late Mama Lucy had what is happening in that hospital she will wake up from her grave and say, rename that facility because it is no longer honour, it is a dishonour to her name,” Otieno said.
“The decision lies with you (committee), the decision to put more of our people at that facility as they walk their journey of death, just like Maureen did as she was being watched by her relatives.”
His sentiments to close down the hospital were echoed by Senator Raphael Chimera and his Kitui counterpart Enoch Wambua.
Wambua said a time has come to infuse dignity in human life and put things right at the facility to send a firm strong message to all health facilities that, human life is dignified and cannot be bought.
He said health is a devolved function hence county governments should be held accountable for the happenings in their facilities but said the senate committee is tasked to ensure sanity in the sector is restored.
“Crack the whip, do what has to be done, a lot of Nairobians go there for medical care but if it means that you have to shut the hospital for a while and give the management the issues that you want them to address before that hospital can be opened,” Wambua said.
“I agree with Senator Wambua that even if it means that we have to shut the hospital. We cannot afford to continue losing lives at the expense of those still offering services and killing our people. That hospital should not be allowed to continue being a slaughterhouse,” Chimera said.
The committee will be inviting the management of both the county and the hospital at a date yet to be communicated.
Jackson Mandago said some of the questions they are seeking answers to are the plans the county government has in place to ensure the hospital offers services as expected.
The hospital management will have to explain why they opted to refer a patient to Kiambu Hospital and not KNH yet it was a matter of urgency.