Prime Cabinet Secretary, Musalia Mudavadi, called out public health facilities for their slow service delivery. He urged all public health facilities to improve their operations and deliver quality services to Kenyans.
According to Mudavadi, many Kenyans seek medical treatment at government health facilities. These hospitals act as back-stoppers for those who cannot access or are denied private facilities.
He, however, regretted that Kenyans have had to handle poor services in the facilities, a situation that should change.
“It has become almost a tradition in government health facilities that, on any given day, there is either no personnel on duty to attend to patients or if present, staff offer substandard services to poor patients,” Mudavadi regretted.
Lack of adequate drugs causing slow service
He mentioned that a majority of government health facilities do not have adequate drugs other than painkillers and patients are directed to private pharmacies with links to government health facility staff.
“It is common knowledge that medicines destined for government health facilities find their way, by way of diversion, to private chemists. We need to sort out this duel, and most times, conflict of interest co-existence in the health sector,” Mudavadi said.
He urged Health Cabinet Secretary, Susan Nakhumicha that together with County Governments, they should crack down on this thriving criminal enterprise that is condemning Kenyans to an early death by stealing their drugs.
“Whenever County Governments run out of funds to procure drugs from Kenya Medical Supplies Agency (KEMSA), let us be magnanimous to provide the drugs on credit. Let County Governments owe KEMSA rather than the other way around. To avoid defaulting by County Governments, there should be agreements to deduct the money owed at source by the Exchequer,” advised Mudavadi.
At the same time, the PCS urged Kenyans to change their approach from condemning or undermining beneficial policies like universal healthcare to asking relevant questions regarding implementation and operation.
“For instance, I will be more than willing to engage on how a contributor to NHIF can get the best treatment. Alternatively, we should offer solutions to teething problems at government health facilities, KEMSA, and NHIF for effective and efficient management,” he stated.
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He also said that the Government is aware of cartels in the medical insurance business who fear NHIF affordable cover is taking clients away from them and operating under the cover of paid politicians. This comes at a time when CS Nakhumicha sets the stage to fight cartels in the sector.
According to Mudavadi, it is not only unethical but also criminal for hospitals to inflate charges on NHIF bills for substandard treatment, even though he stated that the government will not be lenient.
If public hospitals are facilitated and increased, then the problems that Kenyans keep encountering will be reduced significantly.
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