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House team to probe training institutions
- Details
- Published on Monday, 04 June 2007 03:53
The Parliamentary Committee on Health, Labour and Social Services, chaired by Dr Hezron Manduku, on Friday said the Government would be risking lives of Kenyans if training at medical colleges is mediocre. Manduku said training facilities were outdated.
During a tour of Kisii District Hospital, the committee learnt that many students were undertaking internship in private hospitals.
"This compromises the scope of their practical exposure since most staff in private hospitals have little time and expertise to train interns," said Dr Wycliffe Mogoa, the Kisii District Hospital Medical Superintendent.
Mogoa said the mortuary had 12 abandoned bodies awaiting police and court clearance before being disposed off at a public cemetery.
The morgue has a capacity of 24 bodies but it now has 89, a matter the committee wants addressed immediately. The MPs expressed shock when they found patients sharing beds and covered in worn-out sheets.
Medical cases and operations that need critical attention from Nyamira, Kuria, Homa Bay, Migori, Suba, Rachuonyo and Trans- Mara districts are referred to the hospital, one of the oldest in the region.
Mogoa told the committee that the hospital had a bed capacity of 330, adding that it had more than 400 patients.
"Patients sharing beds is a norm here. Sometimes we have a congestion of between 130 and 250 per cent due to malaria outbreaks," he said.
He said between 500 and 700 patients are treated at the hospital’s outpatient section daily.
The committee was also informed that the maternity wing, which was the most congested, was the second busiest in child deliveries in the country, after Pumwani in Nairobi. Mogoa said between 15 and 30 babies are delivered at the facility daily.
"The workload is high as compared to staffing. One nurse serves 80 patients instead of the required six. We also face shortage of doctors," he said.
The committee expressed outrage over the Government’s negligence of the hospital, which, they claimed, was the most congested in the country.
MPs Mr Benson Mbai (Masinga), Mr William Boit (Baringo North), Mr Zebedeo Opore (Bonchari) and Nyatike’s Mr Ocholla Ogur accompanied Manduku (Nyaribari Masaba) during the tour.
