Mothers, babies detained in KU hospital cry out for help
Kenyatta University Teaching Referral Research Hospital.
Six-month-old Kylian has only known the walls of Kenyatta University (KU) Teaching and Referral Hospital since he was born. This is because he and his mother were blocked from leaving the facility over a Sh900,000 bill that has since ballooned to Sh1.4 million.
Kylian was admitted to the intensive care unit just after birth due to a lung complication. It took two months to heal, after which he was ready to go home.
But with the bill, and his mother unable to pay, they both have been in hospital ever since, with the bill increasing by Sh6,000 daily.
“Sitting in hospital with such a young baby who is not unwell is not easy. The babies contract other diseases which they would not catch at home. I wonder whether being poor is a crime,” Kylian’s distressed mother told the Sunday Nation.
Six other women are detained at Zambezi Ward at the hospital with their babies, some having stayed for as long as eight months.
Mama Ezel is one of those. She was referred to the hospital on March 25. Her baby was then admitted to the ICU.
He came in when he was six months old. Now he is 10 months old.
By the time he was set to be discharged in late April, the bill had accumulated to Sh600,000. It has since shot up to Sh1.4 million.
The family, through well-wishers, has managed to reduce the bill to Sh977, 000. However, they said, the hospital won’t let them leave until they clear 75 per cent of the total bill.
“What really scares me is that the more we continue sitting here, just eating and sleeping, the more the bill piles up. If I was not able to clear the initial bill, will I be able to clear the ones that are piling surely?” asked Mama Ezel who is stuck in bed number 17 at the ward.
She wants the hospital to allow her to commit to a payment, as her wish is to have her baby grow up in the comfort of their home.
Then there is Maxwell. Together with his mother Mercy Kinoti, they have been long-time occupants of bed number 15 in Zambezi Ward. They can’t leave until they clear their bill.
On April 24, Maxwell fell from a first-floor balcony. He injured his head and neck.
He was rushed to a nearby hospital but after assessment, the case was deemed an emergency and referred to KU. At KU, the baby was admitted to the intensive care unit for the first 10 days and then transferred to the wards.
On May 15, he was discharged with a bill of Sh300,000. The family could, however, not afford the amount and the mother and child were detained. The bill now stands at Sh864,000.
The three have even requested the hospital management through the social worker to allow them to work as casual labourers to offset the bill, a request they say has also not been granted.
“There is nothing as difficult as waking up, bathing, eating and sleeping. I am so traumatised and so depressed about staying here. We requested them to employ us even to wash plates or clean wards but they have not responded. It is not that we have refused to pay the money. We simply don’t have it,” Ms Kinoti said.
The World Health Organisation lists the detention of patients as a violation of human rights and a systemic failure to the goal to ensure that all people have access to essential health services.
When the Sunday Nation sought a response from the hospital, we were referred to the social work office, which they said handles such cases.
A social worker who only identified herself as Anne said there are hospital protocols that must be followed.
“We don’t discharge patients until they pay the bill, or pay 75 per cent of the bill, leave security and pay the 25 per cent later,” she said.
Kirinyaga Woman Representative Njeri Maina has proposed the Health Amendment Bill 2023, which seeks to criminalise the detention of patients and corpses in hospitals and mortuaries over unpaid bills.
The bill proposes that all health facilities, both private and public, that detain patients or bodies over unpaid bills should be fined Sh1 million. If it sails through, the Treasury will allocate funds to underwrite unpaid bills.
