The Kenyatta National Hospital management has refuted allegations by a woman who claims the facility ignored her critically injured mother leading to her death.
The woman, identified as Karen Gacheru, narrated her ordeal in a 27-minute video posted live on Kilimani Mums and Dads Facebook group. She explained how a doctor whom she identified had ignored her mother’s critical condition.
“My mother was knocked down by a motorbike sustaining a head injury on Saturday morning as she proceeded home after an overnight prayer session. I took her to KNH’s emergency unit. When we reached the hospital, the doctors who saw her told us she required admission in the intensive care unit (ICU). She was not admitted for two days despite our pleas,” said Ms Gacheru.
“After repeated pleas to the doctor who was attending to my mother, I remember the doctor telling us to transfer her to another hospital. When I requested for information on which procedure to follow, he ignored me,” the tearful Gacheru went on.
“I was later called and told that my mother had passed away. When I questioned why they had neglected her, they called a counsellor to talk to me. During our session, I made a mistake of telling the official that I had recorded videos of a doctor who told me there was nothing she could do for my mum. Minutes later police came after me asking me to delete the videos I had taken. They searched me but luckily I did not have my phone so I escaped and came to record this video,” she continued.
However, in their statement, the hospital management confirmed Hannah Njoki, 68, was admitted at KNH on August 25 but she was not admitted to the ICU ward since there was no available bed.
KNH Clinical Services Director Dr Peter Masinde said the late Hannah’s relatives were informed of the lack of a bed and advised to transfer her to a private facility, a recommendation which they declined due to lack of funds.
“Unfortunately, there was no available ICU bed at the ward and she was admitted in Ward 5B. However, treatment was initiated awaiting availability of a bed,” said Dr Masindi.
“It is regrettable that she passed away on August 28, 2018 while waiting for an ICU bed at the hospital,” said Masindi.
