Kiambu County has for the last three months been rolling out a transformative framework to upgrade the health care system as envisaged by Governor Kimani Wamatangi pre-election pledge.
The county has embarked on radical changes pegged on the five pillars the governor had promised in his manifesto to implement when elected key being the health care sector whose services were deplorable.
He had promised the residents of Kiambu of an improved health services with a particular focus on provision of quality maternal and child healthcare services.
And in an impromptu visit to Kiambu Level Five Hospital to follow up on promise to the residents, Governor Wamatangi announced plans to equip the facility with more beds, stretchers and wheel chairs to improve delivery of services
“We need to upscale our services through proper treatment and should even come out and set a turnaround time parameter to be able to deal with patients quickly”, he told the hospital management.
He also assured residents that all public hospitals will be fully stocked with the needed drugs to ensure that patients were not sent to procure the same from private entities as it used to be the case.
During the visit some patients and locals had told him that they were not being issued with medicine but were being asked to purchase from outside
“I do not want to hear patients being asked to buy medication from outside and I would also not want to hear a patient being asked to pay any money before being attended by the Doctor “he said noting that the County has in the recent past engaged the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA) to streamline flow of drugs to all county hospitals.
During the partnership agreement at the beginning of the month, the governor had flagged off lorries with medicine to be distributed to County hospitals that were worth Ksh 60 million
he also took time to listen and hear the views of the hospital staff who shared the challenges they faced affecting especially in terms of staffing shortages , supplies and financial constraints.
However the staff at the maternity wing dismissed reports appearing on social media circles that fatality rates of infants was alarming.
The head of the section said ” since the 16th of this month, to date, we have not reported any death of a new born in our maternity wing where we attend to around 100 mothers despite the fact that we face staffing challenges with a ratio of 1: 50 and this leaves the nurses burnt out and fatigued.
Different department heads gave their concern to the governor and asked his administration to assist in some of the challenges that are affecting the hospital noting that despite the challenges and staffing, they do not turn away any patient and serve all that visit the hospital.
Dr. Wamatangi promised that his administration will work round the clock to come up with better ways of communication so that the hospital’s image remains positive .
The governor also promised that he will also give special attention to the Gatundu and Thika level five hospitals and others to ensure that residents get the best service they deserve.
During this month, Governor Wamatangi also launched a mass registration drive for the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) that will seek to provide affordable accessible and sustainable medical cover to every resident in the County and is targeting to register 1 million people.
Governor Wamatangi in his second People-centered Pillar of his manifesto promise to “Leave No Child Behind” in education and future employment opportunities.
By Wangari Ndirangu
