Broken healthcare system: A mother's fight against bias and the law that could fix it
Josephine Mwende, a disability and inclusion advocate. She lives with cerebral palsy.
What you need to know:
- Patients are facing widespread discrimination and medical negligence, with cases including a pregnant woman with cerebral palsy being rejected by multiple hospitals and a nurse's brain tumour being misdiagnosed for years.
- These experiences have sparked advocacy efforts that led to over a thousand signatures on a petition demanding better patient safety.
- Health ministry has developed a Bill, which promises to enforce uniform standards and protect patient rights.
Josephine Mwende's story begins in 2017, during what should have been one of the most supported moments of her life. As a young woman living with cerebral palsy preparing for motherhood, she encountered a healthcare system that saw her disability before her humanity.
"During my search for a hospital, I faced rejection from multiple medical facilities," Mwende recalls. Her first attempt at securing maternal care was met with demands for additional, exorbitant fees under the pretence that her "case would be complicated"—before she had even been admitted.
The second hospital visit proved even more devastating. Despite being accompanied by her mother and initially feeling hopeful upon meeting a female nurse, that hope was quickly shattered.
"Without a word, the nurse simply took one look at me and declared, 'We can't handle such a person,'" Mwende remembers. "It was a dehumanising statement that left me wondering if my disability had stripped away my humanity. Vulnerable and in pain, I couldn't fight back. I simply calmed myself and moved on to the next hospital."
Only at the third facility did she find the care she deserved, with staff who not only admitted her but also accommodated her mother, providing them with a private room for their four-day stay. Yet this positive experience serves as a reminder of the violations she endured when she was most vulnerable.
"Looking back, I acknowledge that I wasn't as informed as I am today. I didn't know the proper channels to file a complaint with the hospital or the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Council (KMPDC). This lack of knowledge has since fuelled my desire to empower others," she explains.
Mwende believes her experience reflects a broader pattern of discrimination against women with disabilities, many of whom remain silent, fearing their voices won't be heard. Her journey has transformed her into a leading advocate for disability rights and inclusion.
"I often hear medical practitioners claim they weren't taught about disability in school. However, I firmly believe that empathy and basic humanity shouldn't require a special curriculum," she says.
When doctors get it wrong
Deborah Monari's ordeal represents a different but equally troubling aspect of healthcare failures. As a nurse and advocate for medical and social justice, she experienced medical negligence that saw her frequent fainting spells misdiagnosed as epilepsy, panic attacks, and menstruation-related issues—when she actually had a brain tumour.
"I remember being dismissed by doctors, including a neurosurgeon who examined me in less than five minutes and told my sister to record my fainting episodes to help him establish whether there was a pattern," Monari recalls. When questioned about how the prescribed medication would help, the doctor's response was dismissive: "They might help or they might not. Just go and take it."
She was eventually properly diagnosed with a brain tumour in India, where she underwent surgery and recovered. Now, besides her work, she dedicates time to advocating for patient rights committees in health facilities to address patient rights violations.
"In 2023, I presented a petition with over a thousand signatures urging the Ministry of Health to prioritise patient safety. This bill responds to that very call—embedding patient voices into policy and reinforcing the need for regulated, people-centred healthcare. It's a win for both patients and ethical healthcare professionals," she explains.
A new dawn for patient rights
These personal battles haven't been in vain. The Ministry of Health has developed the Quality Healthcare and Patient Safety Bill to raise healthcare standards, enforce uniform standards across all health facilities, strengthen patients' rights, and ensure accountability. The bill is currently in the public participation phase after which it will proceed to the National Assembly for further debate and enactment.
"As a nurse and someone who has personally experienced the devastating effects of medical negligence, I fully support the Quality Healthcare and Patient Safety Bill, 2025. This bill is a long-overdue step towards protecting patients' rights, ensuring accountability, and raising the standard of care across all health facilities," Monari adds.
What the bill promises
If adopted, the legislation will guarantee that every patient receives quality healthcare from qualified and licensed healthcare professionals whose credentials have been verified and approved by relevant regulatory bodies.
Patients will have the right to comprehensive information about their diagnosis, treatment options, and prescribed health products and technologies. They'll receive disclosure of risks and benefits of healthcare procedures and alternative treatments, plus associated costs—all presented in language they understand to enable informed decision-making.
The bill also establishes the right to report safety and quality concerns without fear of retaliation, receive written explanations and redress of concerns, and have complaints involving serious harm investigated and addressed. Every health facility must provide a mechanism for patients to lodge complaints.
Crucially, all patients will be entitled to respectful, person-centred care, including quality palliative and end-of-life care, with non-discriminatory treatment regardless of age, sex, disability, ethnicity, health status, or socioeconomic status. Minority groups, including women, youth, and persons with disabilities, will have rights to tailored services.
The bill also introduces a three-tier ambulance classification system: advanced life support ambulances for comprehensive treatment and monitoring; intermediate life support ambulances for limited invasive treatment; and basic life support ambulances for fundamental care—each requiring appropriate licensing.
Government's commitment
Mary Muthoni, Principal Secretary for Public Health and Professional Standards in the Ministry of Health, explains that the bill emerged from complaints Kenyans have made on social and mainstream media about poor services at healthcare facilities.
"This bill is meant to empower patients to demand accountability from health providers and facilities. Never again will we have facilities owned by people or governments mistreating patients. If you are already sick, we do not want patients to be tortured into mental health issues because of somebody who has refused to give you the dignity that you deserve," she said.
"It is a comprehensive legal framework that will enforce standards on the quality of healthcare across all public, private, and faith-based institutions. As a ministry, we feel that rights based on a healthcare approach explicitly protect patients' rights and responsibilities, including informed consent, safety, confidentiality, and grievance redress," PS Muthoni added.
She explained that the bill proposes establishing a national authority to regulate quality standards, monitor compliance, accredit, license, inspect, and rate healthcare facilities and providers.
"Never again will we have health facilities that are going to be substandard. Never again will we have rogue healthcare professionals in our country because whether the facilities are going to be faith-based, private, or public, whether they are going to be national-level or county-level, the standards are going to be the same. This bill introduces the reduction of preventable medical errors, negligence, and substandard care," she added.
Resistance and controversy
However, the bill's journey hasn't been without challenges. With the legislation currently in the public participation phase, faith-based organisations and private hospital associations boycotted a high-level stakeholders' engagement forum at a Nairobi hotel, claiming they felt ambushed.
"They ambushed us with this public participation invitation. This now appears to be merely a rubber-stamping exercise to tick the box of public participation," said Brian Lishenga, chairperson of the Rural and Urban Private Hospitals Association of Kenya.
