{Helplessness on the part of relatives with patients in public hospitals greeted the second day of the doctors strike as the sick battled pain and misery.
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In Kisumu, Mr Otieno Makaleba’s relatives have lost hope. Emaciated, in pain and weak due to the ravages of disease, the 76-year-old cancer patient lay on the floor at Jaramogi referral hospital.
On Tuesday, his relatives said they had left him at the mercy of God since they could neither transfer him to a private hospital nor clear his huge medical bill.
In the next ward was Mr Kennedy Omware, with an open wound in his stomach, was being helped to walk as he carried his catheter bag full of urine.
His wound is open and rotting. His wife Rael said the family had no money to transfer him and they had a bill of Sh30,000.
At the Kisumu County Hospital an Aids patient was being helped by a guard to feed.
In Mombasa, when Mr Stephen Mwaura brought his 28-year-old ailing sister for treatment at the Coast Provincial General Hospital on December 2, he was optimistic that she would be well and soon they would be back home.
But Mr Mwaura, who hails from Murang’a, said despite Ms Emma Waithera showing signs of recovery, died at 11.30am on Tuesday with no doctor or nurse by her side after her condition deteriorated suddenly.
Meanwhile, Mr Stephen Ngang’a, 40, who is in a coma, was discharged from Port Reitz District Hospital on Monday.
His distraught mother and relatives had no choice but to take him away.
{{INFLUX OF PATIENTS}}
In Nyeri, private hospitals have been over stretched by an influx of patients from public hospitals.
Mission hospitals such as Consolata Mathari are admitting patients from as far as Laikipia and Murang’a.
In Kirinyaga, Kerugoya referral hospital faced imminent closure after patients were withdrawn due to the ongoing strike by health workers.
A spot check by the Nation on Tuesday established that all the wards were completely deserted with relatives saying they had to take their patients to private clinics when the striking workers left them unattended.
Others took their patients home to die as they could not afford the high cost of private hospitals and clinics.
In Nairobi, when Lucy Wambui and her 18-year-old nephew Elvis Kinyanjui embarked on a journey to Mbagathi Hospital in search of better care, their hope was to go back home walking hand-in-hand.
Elvis was transferred from Maragua District Hospital two weeks ago after suffering a stroke that left him partially paralysed.
When there was no noticeable change in her nephew’s health, Ms Wambui decided to request for a transfer to Mbagathi.
Elvis can neither feed nor hold his body in a straight position. He fully relies on the assistance of nurses —who have since gone on strike— or his aunt who goes to visit him every day.
While he was getting help at the hospital, the nurses prepared his aunt to take over before they went on strike.
Ms Wambui added that she thought they (government and doctors) would reach an agreement before the strike commenced “but from the look of things, I doubt this will end any time soon.”
{{PATIENTS TURNED AWAY}}
At KNH, the number of patients streaming in was low compared to other days where the hospital receives about 1,400 patients. Clinics were the worst hit with some patients scheduled for surgery being turned away.
“The doctor called me in the morning to tell me that he could not perform the surgery until further notice,” said a patient who had already paid.
the Sh20,000 required for her surgery.
Across the road is 25-year-old Donatus Onyango, who found himself in the same predicament as Ms Wambui. Only that for him, he was not able to take home his nine-month old daughter his wife despite being discharged from Kenyatta National Hospital.
“I travelled overnight from Meru but when I got here, I was informed that the doctor was yet to write the discharge summary, without which I could not settle the bill and take my family home,” he said.
Mr Onyango said that numerous calls to the doctor were futile as they did not pick their phone calls.
“We have been waiting all morning for the doctor to come write the summary with no success,” he explained.
His daughter was admitted at KNH two weeks ago after being diagnosed with a condition known as hydrocephaly, a condition cause by an abnormal build-up of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the ventricles of the brain. The fluid is often under increased pressure and can compress and damage the brain.
Doctors, nurses and clinical officers begun a nationwide strike and boycotted work to push the government to implement a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) they signed in June 2013.
DEPLORABLE SITUATION
This is after the 21-day strike notice they issued on November 14 expired on Monday.
As a result, many hospitals were left without medics and patient left unattended. A spot check by Daily Nation on Tuesday in Kenyatta National Hospital, Mbagathi and Mama Lucy hospitals revealed the deplorable situation in which many patients had been left.
At KNH, the number of patients streaming in was relatively low compared to other days where the hospital receives about 1,400 patients in a day.
Clinics were the worst hit with some patients scheduled for surgery being turned away.
“The doctor called me in the morning to tell me that he could not perform the surgery until further notice,” said one patient who had already paid the Sh20,000 the hospital needed for her surgery.
When reached for a comment on the impact of the strike, KNH’s Chief Executive officer Lily Koros said: “We are still assessing the situation before acting.”
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