Nairobi County shuts down illegal medical facilities
The Nairobi County government has raised alarm over negligence in some of the private medical facilities when it comes to service delivery to residents.
The county said several complaints have been received about clinics offering substandard services to the people, leading to the death of patients.
The County Chief Officer in charge of Health, Mr Geoffrey Mosiria, said they are conducting a crackdown to ascertain whether all medical facilities in the county are licensed to provide such services.
The county Chief Officer in charge of Health Mr Geoffrey Mosiria said that they will embark on a crackdown to determine if all the medical facilities in the county have been approved to offer such services.
Speaking during the raid of one of the clinics in Dagoretti North, Kawangware area on Wednesday, Mosiria stated that the county will not tolerate any negligence that might put the lives of Nairobi residents at risk.
The team from the county accompanied by health officials from Kenya Medical Practitioners Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) raided Muteithania Nursing and Maternity Clinic which has been at the center of controversy from the residents.
“As the county government, our work is to protect lives. We are not here to kill businesses but to facilitate businesses. But at the end of the day, we need a city of order, and dignity like what he governor promised, hope and opportunities for all. This is not the only facility that we’re going to close, we have a number of facilities. We are sending a message that we will not allow any illegal clinics in the county,” Mr Mosiria said.
Muteithania Nursing and Maternity Clinic was temporarily closed after the inspection from the team revealed that the facility was not well equipped to handle maternal cases.
The County Assembly Health Committee Chairperson Maurice Ochieng claimed that a woman died under mysterious circumstances in the facility, a case that they are still investigating.
“The cause of her death remains unknown that is why we have come here to do our findings but in our preliminary investigation, we have found some negligence which is being done by non-professionals. We are sending a strong message to Nairobians that if we find you operating a clinic, operating any medical facility without approvals, without license, we will catch up with you,” Mr Ochieng said.
KMPDU official Mohamed Ahmed said that the proprietors of the closed facility who are David Mutegi, and Grace Mutegi will appear before the union to answer some questions.
The owners refuted the claims that they are running the center illegally, saying that their facility has been operating for many years and that their recent monthly number of deliveries, which is at 111, shows that they are most trusted by the residents.
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