“We want the individuals involved and the institution to be given a hearing. Hospitals cannot be closed without any investigations held,” Oluel said/FILE
NAIROBI, Kenya, May 13 – The Secretary General of Kenya Association of Private Hospitals Timothy Oluel has said due process should be followed when revoking licenses of medical intuitions that disregard proper medical practices.
Speaking during a press conference, Oluel said relevant government agencies mandated to carry out that responsibility should not apply knee jerk reactions when handling such situations but ensure a thorough investigation has been conducted to ascertain whether there was negligence on the part of the hospital.
“We want the individuals involved and the institution to be given a hearing. Hospitals cannot be closed without any investigations held,” Oluel said.
“An institution should be closed, whereby the continued operation of the facility poses risk to patient’s safety; if shortcomings are widespread and cannot be addressed when the institution is operational and if the risk cannot be mitigated by the suspension of the concerned individual pending investigation.”
He directed staff working in all medical institutions to ensure that those who attend to patients are properly trained and qualified practitioners in a bid to avert future disheartening scenarios.
“The KMPDB registers and licenses all medical doctors, dentists and health care facilities in the country. It is also mandated to regulate their practice, other health care professionals are licensed and regulated by similar statutory bodies,” he noted.
The board has laid down procedures for the investigations of incidents relating to patient care that might constitute professional negligence.
He reiterated that sudden closure of a health institution should be justified in a lawful procedure and the measure should be the last result.
Oluel spoke at a time the Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board last week suspended the license of Shalom Hospital after a nurse prescribed a wrong medication to a seven-month-old baby who later died.
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