KNH Initiates Disciplinary Action After Parent Highlights Alleged Mistreatment by Staff Member

Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) has initiated disciplinary action against one of its staff members following a case that was exposed publicly by a parent who reported about alleged mistreatment and unprofessionalism at one of its surgical wards in the discharge process.

The case that received much social media coverage has brought awareness of accountability and patient rights in the Kenyan government health care centers.

On Friday, November 14, KNH management published a statement that the management had been informed of a formal complaint by one of the parents of a child admitted in Surgical Ward 4C.

The complaints of the parent described an unpleasant experience in the process of discharge, which immediately led the hospital to act.

The management showed profound apologies to the affected family, and the management said that the actions mentioned by the parent were not in accordance with the values of the institution or its principles to provide compassionate, fair, and professional care.KNH claimed that the employee who mishandled the discharge procedure belongs to the team that handles Social Health Authority (SHA) clearance. The hospital affirmed that disciplinary action has already commenced as per its human resource policies, which are an indication of zero tolerance to misconduct. KNH also said that the patient had been discharged, and the process of reimbursement to the family had been started as a way of handling the issue.

The statement was followed by a statement that the hospital would ensure the highest standards of integrity, fairness, and compassion towards all its patients and their families, which demonstrated the desire to regain public trust in the hospital after the incident.

This scandal rose to prominence as the parent shared his story with social media, describing what it was like to be in Surgical Ward 4C of the hospital.

His report entailed a sequence of disappointments he had to face when attempting to have his child released.

In his posting, he had been waiting since the day before to receive the clearance, but the process was stalled as he alleged blatant favoritism by the SHA officer on duty. He alleged that rather than serving patients according to the manner in which they had presented, the officer would first serve those that she seemed familiar with personally and leave others, such as him, without attention for hours.

The circumstances have reportedly gotten out of control when the parent asked why he felt he was being treated unfairly.

He claimed that the officer got so angry that she banged her office door and summoned him into her office, where she allegedly punished him by imposing Ksh 2,070 on him as an additional day of execution of his child. According to the parent, he was quick to pay the bill at the Malipo Center of the hospital, with hope that the issue would end.

But this was not the end of the ordeal.

After coming with the evidence of having paid, the officer supposedly did not release his child until he wrote a formal apology letter and it was stamped by a local Chief. The parent said that this was an unnecessary demand, and it was like trying to intimidate and humiliate him. He appealed in his intervention request that his baby was technically being held in custody since he would not be subjected to an unreasonable demand.

According to his social media post, which soon went viral and attracted acute reactions of Kenyans, his baby was detained at KNH at the moment when he did not want to pay a bribe and be humiliated.

The event sparked a lot of debate on social media regarding the quality of service provision in the state-run hospitals, and most users expressed their frustration with the situation and demanded the reformation of the system.

Other individuals applauded the hospital because it was acting fast, and this action would be the start of imposing the ethical practice of the healthcare staff with more seriousness.

With the disciplinary process underway, KNH is under fresh pressure to enhance the system of oversight and treatment of patients and their families as dignified and just as much as possible.

The case has also highlighted the increasingly significant role of social media in highlighting the failures in the provision of all types of services and putting an institution on the path of becoming more transparent and accountable.