Sensationalism sells and that's why you were more likely to click the link to check further on the issue raised above.Now that I have got your attention,keep reading to find out.As the talks between the government and doctors on the
legality and implementation of the CBA enter its crucial phase, I hope the
reduced media propaganda and adversarial stance from both parties will be a sign
of progress towards its resolution. Without getting carried away with the valid hoopla and brouhaha I have to admit the resilience
shown by the KMPDU leadership and the length to which they have gone to defend
their rights as employees is commendable given the intimidation and enticement by
the government and peril they put their lives in. The work of ensuring Kenyans
get proper healthcare in our public healthcare system starts now. The CBA is
not a panacea for all that ails the health system in Kenya nor a solution for
some of the challenges faced but a first step in the right direction
One of the components of the CBA implementation involves standardization
of disciplinary proceedings against healthcare personnel. I would hope that this
clause would include healthcare quality and safety program enhancement and not
just subjective disciplinary measures geared towards punishment rather than a
remedial and continuous improvement of the system and its components. I would
have loved to bore you with how to achieve healthcare quality and safety in
resource limited settings, but I will leave that for another day.
In the recent past media reports are rife with cases of
perceived unsubstantiated claims of medical negligence that go uninvestigated
or incorrectly handled. Hundred other anecdotal cases go unreported and there reduces
the confidence of the citizens in their public healthcare facilities. The
implementation of the CBA will hopefully put in place better mechanisms to seek
redress by the general public from the errors of omission and commission by
medical personnel. The current centralized system of medical negligence and complaints
handling is sufficient though it needs some review to take into consideration
best practices in healthcare safety programs. Furthermore I hope that the
enactment of the CBA (If it happens) will give rise to a system of healthcare quality
and safety improvement.
Just this evening, one of the media outlets reported of an
ongoing court case of a nurse who erroneously gave a wrong diagnosis of HIV to
a patient.
There was also a similar case a week or so ago,of a lab technologist
accused of the same. Before the Kenyan healthcare system faces a challenge of proliferation
of the cottage ambulance chasing lawyers industry we need systematic reforms of
our handling of medical errors to avoid cases of misdiagnosis and malpractice to
enhance quality assurance of the healthcare service provision. Every facility
in the country should have adequate measures such as an active pharmacovigilance
and medico-legal reporting and awareness centre and all medical personnel
should be cognizant of their duty to offer the best possible care at all times.
The goal of the improvements should be to enhance patient
outcomes and increase prompt healthcare service utilization through the confidence
in the quality of care in the facilities. It is only though this process of
improvement that the populace can understand why they should support calls
towards universal healthcare that is tax payer funded and will not result in
any catastrophic expenditure or negative health outcomes.
Failure to improve our quality assurance processes in
healthcare will result in lower confidence in the facilities and personnel,
increased malpractice proceedings against doctors and no achievement of set
healthcare outcomes with a greater burden on the health system.
So, it’s time we talked about the quality of care we espouse
to give after implementation of the CBA and how it would translate to better health
outcomes for this country. If we don’t, then the industrial action would have
been a vain pursuit to increase monetary compensation with no complementary increase
in quality of care.
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