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Kenya: Concern Rises as Patients Keep Off Public and Private Hospitals

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6 years ago

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Wards, triages and hallways in both public and private hospitals are increasing becoming empty, as patients keep off health facilities in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic, the Nation can reveal.

A spot checks across the country Tuesday revealed reduced activity at health centres, with some medical staff whiling away time.

Both inpatient and outpatient traffic have reduced by more than half in some counties, amid mounting fears over the health conditions of patients with chronic diseases such as cancer, asthma and diabetes.

In Nakuru, hospitals continue to record extremely low traffic, as patients fear coming into contact with suspected coronavirus patients, contaminated surfaces and healthcare workers in isolation wards.

Health County Executive Kariuki Gichuki expressed fears that a lot of people could be silently suffering at home.

“We are afraid many people could be wrongly treating some illnesses at home,” Dr Gichuki said.

“Erroneous prescription of medicines bought over the counter can be devastating especially to those who are not sure of the kind of disease they are treating,” he added.

In Homa Bay, where one case of coronavirus has been reported, fewer patients are seeking medical services at the Homa Bay Teaching and Referral Hospital.

Records from the hospital show that the number of outpatients received daily has dropped from an average of 250 per day to 100 since Covid-19 struck.

A similar situation was observed at the Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital, one of the busiest hospitals in Nyanza region.

According to the hospital’s director Geoffrey Otomu, inpatient and outpatient traffic have reduced by 40 per cent in the last two months.

In Mandera, there are no longer long queues at the outpatient bay, lab and registration desk as witnessed before Covi-19 cases were reported in the border county.

“Our isolation centre is at the main hospital and this to some extent has made some patients keep off the facility,” said Dr Hassan Abdalla, Medical Superintend at Mandera County Referral Hospital.

The situation is no different at the Meru Referral Hospital where Chief Executive Officer james Kirimi, said both the outpatient and inpatient departments had few numbers.

Here, outpatient numbers have declined from an average of 500 patients to about 100 in a day.

“The number of patients in the wards has also declined from 450 to 270. However, the casualty remains busy. This is a dramatic decline and the question is where the patients are going because all services are open,” Dr Kirimi said.

At the Mama Lucy Hospital in Nairobi, doctors told the Nation that TB centre was experiencing dwindling traffic.