John Ngirachu
9 September 2009
Nairobi — Medical staff whose negligence leads to the needless suffering of their patients will be punished under new rules being considered by the Medical Services Ministry.
Minister Anyang' Nyong'o told Parliament Wednesday the Ministry is considering introducing the new rules to curb cases of malpractice and to make health workers responsible for their actions.
Currently, cases and complaints involving the actions of medical staff are handled by the Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board, which recommends action to be taken if evidence is found of malpractice or negligence by those it investigates.
While the implementation of the new rules would directly address the problem, Prof Nyong'o declined to state whether patients who suffer losses would be liable for compensation, saying instead that Treasury would be best placed to say whether it would afford to address the matter.
Garsen MP Danson Mungatana, a former assistant minister in the same ministry, said a compensation scheme would be useful to ensure patients who suffer due to health workers' malpractice or negligence are able to earn a living despite the effects of the workers' actions.
Prof Nyong'o was responding to a question by Kisauni MP Hassan Joho on the circumstances that led to the amputation of Ms Mwanakhamisi Kombo's arm at the Coast Provincial General Hospital earlier this year.
In his response, Prof Nyong'o said the doctor whose actions led to the amputation would be retrained at Kenyatta National Hospital for six months to enhance his skills at handling emergency cases at the emergency section in hospitals.
Ms Kombo's arm was amputated after a rubber glove tourniquet was left on her arm after the removal of a blood sample for testing for pneumonia. She was brought to the hospital's casualty section with severe chest pain.
The rubber tourniquet was left on the arm and after admission at the female ward, the limb was seen to be slightly swollen and was changing colour due to blood circulation problems, which the hospital staff continued to treat.
The arm eventually turned gangrenous- started rotting- due to poor blood circulation and was eventually amputated with consent from Ms Kombo and her brother.
Prof Nyong'o said the ministry then sent a team of senior doctors and members of the Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board to investigate the circumstances surrounding the case, which found that the doctor needed retraining.
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