Kakamega county has vowed it will not stop from barring patients without official identification documents access to public hospitals. County Executive Committee (CEC) member in charge of Health Rachel Okumu said patients would only be allowed access on producing national identity cards and other recognised identification documents.
Speaking in response to an outcry by a section of patients who decried being denied access to Kakamega County Referral and Teaching Hospital on Wednesday, December 12, Okumu said the new measure would be implemented unabated.
She said the move was not only aimed at ensuring proper record keeping but would enhance security at public health facilities. The health executive also explained the move was informed by a rampant trend where relatives were abandoning patients in hospitals and disappearing without clearing bills thus compromising quality of service delivery.
“We are implementing this measure in good faith. We would like to protect patients, our staff and even the equipment in hospitals against theft. People must produce their national ID cards right at the gate for easy identification and record keeping,” Okumu said.
Okumu observed the move would also avert scenes like those witnessed at Kenyatta National Hospital and other established health facilities where patients and staff were harmed by trespassers. “These measures are not unique to us because other public institutions have been implementing them. We don’t want to see cases where strangers sneak into our hospitals and cause mayhem.
We have the obligation to protect patients and staff,” she added. She said move would ease the tracking of individuals who abandon patients at the hospitals because they would have their identification details and addresses.
There was also a concern of of individuals seeking healthcare services using National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) cards of their relatives before new measure was implemented.
Okumu said emergency cases will be given special attention in implementation of the directive. Former Kakamega Mayor Ponyochi Kunyobo was among those who sharply differed with county administration over the new directive.