Referral system failed late mother, not us- Mama Lucy health workers

Health workers at the Mama Lucy Kibaki county referral Hospital in Umoja, Nairobi have exonerated themselves from blame regarding the death of a mother who had just given birth to twins.

This comes after Maureen Anyango died after giving birth to twins at the facility.

In apparent response to widespread accusations putting them on the spot for the death of Anyango, the nurses denied negligence on their side.

The group said the mother lost her life because of the lack of a coordinated referral system in the county.

“Mama Lucy is a county referral hospital which means that the services you cannot get at the lowest health facility, you can get here, but that is not the case,” Denis Oduor, Secretary General to the Kenya National Union of Medical Laboratory Officers, Nairobi branch.

The group was addressing a press briefing at Mama Lucy on Monday.

Oduor said the pandemic prompted hospitals to up their game with those without ICU facilities establishing theirs.

“But unfortunately, like with the case of the late Maureen, we had to source for referral services for ICU at Kiambu level five,” he said.

“The nearest we could refer her to is Kenyatta but most of the time, the beds are full,” he added.

Oduor said Mama Lucy’s location makes it suitable for handling emergencies and accidents.

“Some people even get referred here for blood transfusion from Kenyatta before they can receive dialysis so the bed capacity is wanting,” they said.

Boaz Onchari, Secretary General to the Kenya National Nurses Union in Nairobi said the turn-around time to save Maureen’s life was very short.

“Getting a bed at Kiambu where she was referred, the turn-around time between when the call was made and when she arrived there, was too much to save her life,” he said.

He said each healthcare worker did the best to his or her knowledge to save the life of that mother but it was unfortunate that the systems failed.

“We have nobody to blame on whatever happened. As healthcare workers, what we are blaming are the systems. It is not the job of a healthcare worker to put into place systems, it is the work of the employer who is the Nairobi City County,” Onchari said.

He questioned how the Mama Margaret Uhuru level six hospital near Mama Lucy came to be handed over to the National Government.

“We have a level six hospital that was built and completed by the Nairobi Metropolitan Services, that is the current Mama Margaret Uhuru Kenyatta National Hospital here in Korogocho,” he said.

“Of what importance is it that a hospital was built at the heart of a slum to decongest the facilities we have but instead it is handed over to the National Government?”

He said they were very optimistic that upon completion, the facility would serve as the largest county referral hospital in Nairobi.

“If we had that hospital, just across from here and we had those facilities in place, then we could have saved that mother, or rather we could have made the efforts required to save the life of that mother,” he said.

Tom Nyakaba, Secretary General to the Kenya Clinical Officers Union, Nairobi, said the Senate should work towards health financing instead of politicizing the matter of Mama Lucy.

“The key role of the Senate is health financing. They should ensure that hospitals or health in particular are well funded. We cannot talk about quality healthcare without proper health financing, without proper human resources for health,” he said.

He said they cannot continue shifting blame between them because of systemic issues which can be addressed by the Senate and by the County government.

“We do not want this blame to end up with our comrades who are doing everything they can to save lives on a daily basis,” he said.

He said as a union, they are ready to engage with management and even with the senate, to ensure that they improve healthcare delivery in Nairobi and even in the country at large.