Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja has disbanded the Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital management board and appointed a new board following a case of alleged medical negligence towards an expectant patient.
In the changes, Dr Bernard Gituma has also been appointed to take over as the Medical Superintendent. Dr Emma Mutio, the current Medical Superintendent, has been posted to Pumwani Hospital as a specialist.
The new board will be headed by Ms Dorcas Kemunto, who has been appointed the Chairperson, with Dr Bernard Gituma as the Board Secretary. The members include Christopher Githinji who is the area Member of County Assembly, Jennifer Mumbua Mutunga, Susan Wanjiru Kamau, Yvonne Peris Alera Makokha, Ronald Ngala Oniango and Fridah Wambui Nduati.
The new appointments come hours after a video was circulated on social media showing an expectant woman groaning on the ground outside the hospital gate, as women around her screamed and pleaded for the gate to be opened to let them in.
The statement announcing the changes, released by the Nairobi County Executive Committee, details that the patient arrived at the hospital on Saturday April 15 at 5.20pm accompanied by her relatives.
The 26-year-old woman complained that she had “lower abdominal pains radiating to the back with increased intensity” and that “she could not feel regular baby movements.”
The doctor, reads the statement, and recommended an ultrasound to check the baby’s heartbeat, but found that the baby had already passed on.
“The medical team and counsellors at the Mama Lucy Kibaki informed the patient and her relatives of the ultrasound results which revealed that the baby was already dead. The Ultrasound scan results came back revealing that the patient had experienced an Intrauterine Foetal Death (IUFD) at 38 weeks 5 days [of pregnancy],” reads the statement in part.
“At 7:20pm the patient who was already in labour delivered a macerated stillbirth male infant with a birth weight of 2,600 grams. The medical team showed the patient the baby and informed her that the baby had passed away 2-3 days before delivery and her visit to the hospital. Despite all this, and the patient and baby’s prior condition notwithstanding, we feel that she could have been handled better.”
The hospital has been accused multiple times of medical negligence that has led to both maternal and foetal deaths.
The hospital is yet to release a statement on the same. However, Nairobi Woman Representative Esther Passaris has termed the incident a “technical hitch” that is “disheartening.”
“What happened at Mama Lucy is disheartening. I trust Governor Johnson Sakaja will enhance existing systems to prevent the technical hitch that blocked a pregnant, Kenyan woman from accessing healthcare services at her most vulnerable moment. Maternal health is a fundamental right and should not be compromised,” she said in a tweet.
