KNH suspends non-urgent medical services due to registrars' strike

Non-urgent medical or surgical services offered to patients who visit Kenyatta National Hospital have been suspended until when registrars who help in running the referral hospital resume duties.

Registrars (trainee consultants) boycotted work at the hospital on Monday after their colleague was suspended over a botched brain surgery that sparked public outrage.

HIGH NUMBER

Other health workers employed at KNH said they could not handle the high numbers of patients without assistance from the doctors in post-graduate training.

As a result of the boycott, the team of doctors at KNH said they are now forced to do away with elective clinics and elective theatre until normalcy resumes.

They said this while defending the actions of the young surgeon who was sent home after identifying that he had opened up the skull of the wrong patient during a surgery mix-up that occurred two weeks ago.

The doctors led by KNH’s consultant surgeon Dr David Kimani said, the hospital set up a patient’s safety department where health workers can report medical mistakes on their own volition.

“This is one area we always thought would assist us in minimising or eliminating medical mistakes,” said Dr Kimani.

He said that the public must appreciate the young surgeon who, on noticing there was an error, did not close up the patient and sweep the matter under the carpet but instead, was the first one to point it out.

“If we castigate such people, it is unlikely that they will report such matters in future,” Dr Kimani went on to say in the 20 minute press conference.

Dr Kimani further noted that the hospital has a serious staffing need and given that registrars are not employed by KNH, they withdrew their services for fear of not being protected in instance where such errors occur.

The registrars are said to be very vital as they handle up to 85 per cent of the work at KNH without pay. But KNH cannot control them because they are not the hospital’s employees.

“For this, we have always insisted that the government review the memorandum of understanding between KNH and the University of Nairobi,” added Dr Kimani

They are claiming that by temporarily preventing their colleague from continuing with his duties at the hospital, he was being “unwarrantedly victimised”.

The estimated 700 medical master’s students on Monday said they would not resume work until the referral hospital resolves systemic issues, which have been partly blamed for the medical mishap.

They alleged unwarranted victimisation of one of their colleagues who was sent home after opening the skull of the wrong patient following a mix-up in identification tags.

PROBE

Meanwhile, the board of KNH while commencing investigations may have contributed to the surgery mix-up said it intends to ensure lessons are learned, structural changes are made, and capacity is built.

In view of these investigations, the Board also urged all stakeholders to refrain from speculation and drawing any premature conclusions until the reports have been finalised.

“Our patients are our primary priority. We are committed to delivering the highest standards of healthcare and improving our internal systems to avoid a recurrence of such a regrettable event,” read a statement to newsrooms.