Senators have exposed the poor state of county hospitals in what could be affecting the quality of services delivered in the facilities.
In a report by the County Public Investments and Special Funds Committee, the lawmakers revealed that the facilities lack essential resources, including supplies and equipment.
The facilities are acutely understaffed and dogged with the shortage of bed capacity.
“Healthcare workers frequently work in facilities that lack essential resources necessary for delivering quality care,” the report states.
The report on the consideration of the Auditor General’s report for Levels 4 and 5 hospitals for the period ending June 30, 2024, was tabled in the Senate last Thursday.
CPISFC chairman Godfrey Osotsi (Vihiga) tabled the report.
“This shortage can be demoralising for workers and limits the overall effectiveness of service delivery to patients in such hospitals,” the report says.
The facilities are dogged with frequent stockouts, delayed supplies and expired drugs. “The quality of drugs supplied has also been questioned, with reports of expired or substandard drugs being delivered,” the report states.
The panel wants the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority to install an automated Inventory Management System that can help monitor drug stocks at every point in the supply chain.
“By tracking supplies in real time, Kemsa can reorder drugs before stocks run low, reducing stockouts and ensuring continuous availability of essential drugs,” the report says.
The hospitals, report states, lack a proper billing system; this results in revenue losses and inefficiencies.
“Hospitals should implement an Integrated Hospital Management Information System with integrated billing capabilities that allows for seamless patient registration, billing and discharge processes,” it says.
In Lamu, for instance, the committee wants EACC to investigate revenue collection at the Lamu Referral Hospital over suspicion of possible loss of money.
“The committee recommends that EACC conducts investigations on the revenue collections in Lamu County Referral Level 4 Hospital to ascertain if there was loss of any funds,” the report states.
The facility is also grossly understaffed, a scenario that could be compromising the quality of services. The facility has 12 medical officers against the required 16, which represents a deficit of four medical officers or 25 per cent.
Further, the hospital had no anaesthesiologists against the recommended two. It also had two general surgeons as per the Kenya Quality Model for health and one gynaecologist against the recommended two.
“The committee observes that the hospital’s staff complement did not meet the requirements of the Kenya Quality Model for Health,” the report says.
In addition, the hospital has a bed capacity of 100 against the recommended 150.
At the Nyamira County Referral Hospital, there are 12 medical officers against the required 50, 142 nurses against the required 250, one gynaecologist against the required three and one radiologist against the required four.
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