The onset of the month of July 2021 shall bear with it drastic changes in the health sector, as no Walk-in patients shall be allowed into Kenya’s biggest referral hospital, Kenyatta National Hospital. This is as a result of a review by the Ministry of Health and Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) on referral policy, which will see the capital, Nairobi be the first to implement this.
This was announced today (Wednesday May 12, 2021) by NMS boss Major General Mohammed Badi, during the launch of the first Blood Collection Center in Nairobi Metropolitan Area dubbed Smart Bank at the Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital.
“We estimate that by July, no walk-in patients will be allowed into Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH). We want the facility to only handle teaching and referral cases”, Badi said.
To salvage the crisis that may arise from the move, Major General Badi says the 24 Hospitals that are currently being constructed in Nairobi (under the leadership of President Uhuru Kenyatta), will go a long way in reducing the burden at KNH by handling cases that do not require critical care including Radiology, Dialysis, Cancer treatments among other critical care demanding illnesses.
The above services, he further said, are among those that will warrant one to be absorbed into the Kenyatta National Hospital as a walk-in patient. This means that KNH will (beginning the said date), only serve as a referral hospital.
The NMS boss went ahead to cite an example of Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital, which currently serves about 2.1 million Kenyans. Even with this capacity, the hospital still contributes a whole 34% of referrals to KNH. Badi says one of NMS’ aims is to bring this down to 1%.
The 24 hospitals will range between Level 2 and Level 5. It has been revealed that Korogocho and Mathare North will have a Level 5 Hospital each. According to Badi, all the 24 hospitals are at 85% completion (infrastructure-wise) and are awaiting the Ministry of Health to hold up its end of the bargain and provide the necessary equipment.
Additional reporting by Alvin Mwangi
