Delay in discharge of mothers from Naivasha Sub County hospital has left the hospital grappling with congestion.

The women have complained being stranded at the hospital for days despite delivering on time and ready to leave the hospital.

The hospital administration has however attributed the delay to a failure of Social Health Authority systems and slow process of transition of primary health care services to the hospital.

In an interview with Mtaa Wangu an affected mother Margret Njuguna lamented over the delay noting that the congestion led to a strain of resources at the facility.

“It has been a terrible experience seeing women have to share beds because of system failures on the hospital end. Hygiene and proper care is key especially for mothers who have given birth through C-section and all the children in hospital.,” she lamented.

She noted despite having enrolled in the Social Health Authority (SHA)she had been stuck at the facility days after giving birth.

Affected mother Margret Njuguna laments over the congestion at the Naivasha Sub County Hospital

Photo credit: PURITY KINUTHIA/MTAA WANGU

On the other hand, Virginia Wangui noted that she came to the facility as a referral from Mai Mahiu hospital and had been at the hospital since September 26 and the hospital conditions were terrible for mothers.

“Nurses keep coming to write our names and note that we will be discharged soon. This is now becoming annoying. For how long are we going to remain here,” Wangui questioned?

However, Nakuru County Health Executive Roselyne Mungai acknowledged that delays in the hospital’s digital management system had contributed to a backlog of patients over the weekend.

She said the hospital, which has been upgraded to a Level Five facility, operates under a different service model from lower-level health facilities, arguing that patients seeking maternity services should ensure they have the required payment arrangements.

“Those mothers are usually advised either to pay up for a SHA or to go to a primary-level facility,” Mungai said.

She explained that in the recent incident, patients who cannot afford their medical bills should have followed the hospital’s waiver process, which involves an assessment of their financial circumstances by a social worker before the management considers granting financial relief.

According to Mungai, “Some of the patients were stuck in hospital because they were not able to pay their bill in cash. Therefore, a social worker needs to visit the family to establish its ability to pay, after which the hospital may explore community fundraising mechanisms to support families that qualify for a waiver.”

Stranded mothers at the Naivasha Sub County Hospital over the weekend when the hospital experienced protests over delayed discharge of mothers who had given birth leading to congestion at the maternity wing.

Photo credit: PURITY KINUTHIA/ MTAA WANGU

She cautioned that waiving medical bills without assessing a family’s circumstances could create further financial challenges for the hospital, particularly where a newborn requires additional treatment.

The health executive acknowledged that the transition to a new digital hospital management system had contributed to delays in processing patients, particularly at the weekend when the facility experienced a significant backlog.

She said the digitization programme had initially been rolled out in lower-level facilities before being introduced at the Level Five hospital, creating challenges during the transition.

“Yes, the system has been having some delays because of the shift from the system that the Level Five was using. The crisis that was there at the weekend was basically because of the backlog,” she said.

Mungai added that the county had mobilized staff from other Level Two and Level Three facilities to support the hospital and accelerate the discharge of patients.

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