A family in Machakos is seeking answers on what became of their child who was scheduled for a minor surgery and ended up dead at Machakos Level 5 hospital.
Mr Nicholas Kyalo, the father of the 6-year-old boy while speaking to the media outside the hospital, said their son had a small cyst on his hand and the doctors had planned a minor surgery to remove it.
He said they arrived at the hospital on October 25 and the child went in for surgery then after 30 minutes the doctor came out and said the child had developed complications and was rushed to the ICU.
Kyalo went on to add that they were not given any further details and decided to camp at the hospital for several days as their son’s condition critically deteriorated.
The family has demanded answers from the doctors and hospital authorities because they brought in the child in good condition and they do not understand how he ended up in the ICU.
“We demanded to see the doctor who operated on our child because we suspect he was not qualified to perform the surgery and our son was in good condition when we came,” added Kyalo.
He said they were later informed the child had died after staying in the ICU for 6 days and with no clear report on what transpired when he went in for the surgery.
The father claims the hospital authorities had refused to share any details of the doctor who performed the surgery and were not answering any questions regarding what happened to their son.
“We just want the truth and we ask the government to intervene so that we find out what really happened,” lamented the father.
Machakos Executive in charge of Health Dr Daniel Yumbya while speaking to the press, confirmed that the child came for an operation where there were complications and they admitted him in the ICU.
Yumbya said that they are bound by the Medical Practitioners and Dentists Act to treat patient information as confidential and the doctors and nurses who have treated the patient are bound by law not to discuss the patient’s condition with the media.
The health CEC said as a county they reported the case to the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists council which is mandated by law to look into cases of medical malpractices and medical negligence.
“The case was forwarded to the KMPD and the family has been well briefed and we sympathize with them because the child was brought not in critical condition but complications occurred,” added Dr. Yumbya.
He emphasized that the medical personnel who were involved during the operation are qualified, registered and licensed by the KMPD.
By Anne Kangero
