Mama Lucy hospital is understaffed, health workers say

Health workers at the Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital are battling systemic problems at the institution.

They say the hospital is dealing with a shortage of staff and inadequate facilities that stop them from proper service delivery.

Boaz Onchari, the Nurses Union secretary, Nairobi branch, said it is wrong to fault health workers over medical accidents.

“For a facility to be recognised as a Level 5 hospital, it must be well equipped with labs, ICU and enough staff to cater to all the clients,” he said.

He said the hospital serves thousands of residents and lessens the burden on Kenyatta National Hospital.

“If a client comes and they want a CT scan and they can't have one then we have to refer them elsewhere. The case is the same on every service we can't deliver,” he said.

Denis Oduor, Kenya National Union of Medical Laboratory Officers secretary general, Nairobi branch, said that Mama Lucy is one of the hospitals in Nairobi with the most deliveries.

“We have over 2000 deliveries a month, just as much as Pumwani hospital,” he said.

He said on the fateful day of the death of a mother and child, whose death was being probed by the Senate, there were not enough nurses on call.

“We had one nurse attending to over 100 mothers when ideally, there should be a ratio of one nurse to one expectant mother,” he said.

They said that Senate should work on handling the systemic issues plaguing the hospital and not blame workers who took oaths to save lives.