A nurse’s birthday inside Nanyuki Teaching and Referral Hospital laboratory cost life on Monday.
Halima Hassan aged 58 died while awaiting tests after she was rushed to the facility by her family from their Majengo home in Nanyuki Town.
According to her son Ramadhan Hassan Omar, Halima was treated at the facility’s Emergency Unit and prescribed several lab tests but they were never attended to promptly as they were told to wait at the bay.
“On several occasions, I approached a male nurse for help who felt I was nagging and rudely told me off,” Omar told K24 Digital.
On the queue, several other patients were waiting to be attended to as Halima’s condition worsened to death.
It was shocking to discover that, all this time, the laboratory attendants on duty and other nurses in the facility were locked in one of the rooms celebrating a colleague’s birthday party.
Laikipia County Health CEC Rose Maitai has confirmed knowledge of the incident and assured disciplinary actions.
“Unfortunately, it’s true. Disciplinary action has been taken including interdiction of some,” she said.
Laikipia Governor Ndiritu Muriithi has also said that investigation into the matter has begun and that he will issue a statement once the investigation is complete.
In the same facility, a 24-year-old mother of two died after bleeding to death. According to her family, she didn’t receive any help during her stay at the facility leading to her death.
They allege that she direly needed blood which seven volunteers had offered to donate but the health officials could not carry out the transfusion because it was on a public holiday.
They had also previously been instructed to purchase medicine from a nearby chemist which was not administered to her despite the hospital billing them.
The family now claims that the hospital neglected the young mother who has left behind two children aged 3 weeks and 1 year respectively.
