The Commission on Administrative Justice, known as the Office of the Ombudsman, disclosed Friday that three patients with gunshot injuries were inexcusably discharged from Kitengela Sub-County Hospital.
According to the commission, the act amounted to a breach of the patients’ right to health and to be treated with respect and dignity.
“It was established that the discharge process was unprocedural given that the patients were discharged without any medication or prescription to help manage their pain and prevent the wounds from being infected,”
“The investigation established that the premature discharge of the three patients without any oral medication or prescription was prejudicial to their general health and well-being thus amounting to maladministration and possible professional misconduct by the government officials in the hospital,” noted the Ombudsman
CAJ says the patients were also not referred to other facilities when they contested the discharge yet upon discharge two of the patients allegedly discharged in a “stable condition” were admitted less than 24 hours later into two different hospitals for the management of the same wounds that had been treated at the Kitengela Sub County Hospital
Following the investigations, the Commission has recommended that the County Government of Kajiado take action on Dr. Julius Anyona Omboga, the discharging doctor at Kitengela Sub-County Hospital. The Commission further wants the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council (KMPDC) to take action against the Hospital for the breach of the three patients’ rights.
The Ombudsman commenced investigations into the incident following media reports which highlighted the matter.
The reports alleged that the three sustained injuries during the anti-government protests that were held in July 2023 and were thereafter rushed to the said facility. According to the reports, while the patients were in hospital, one of them was found smoking cigarettes in the wards which resulted in all three being discharged from the facility while still in critical condition.
“Due to the veracity of the allegations, the Commission recommended investigation under section 29 (1) of the Commission on Administrative Justice Act, 2011 on its initiative to ascertain the reports made against Kitengela Sub County Hospital,” indicated the Ombudsman
