By Dann Okoth

Winding queues, crying babies, chaos and confusion everywhere — this is often the scene at Kenyatta National Hospital as hordes of sick people throng the institution for treatment.

The picture is different across the road at Nairobi Hospital where the outpatient area resembles an executive passenger lounge at the airport.

Excited children dart between the confectionery dispenser and their seats in a nearly flawless operation.

While many patients die as they wait for treatment in public hospitals, private ones have perfected their act and the sick receive attention within minutes of walking through the doors.

And while the cost of treatment at the institutions may be on the higher side, doctors say it is cheaper in the long run to receive timely attention.

According to Ms Joyce Karimi, the head of Medical Desk at The Mater Hospital, Nairobi, it could take as little time as two minutes for a patient to be attended to at the hospital.

"One could walk in and walk out within five minutes of arrival depending on the seriousness of the case," she says.

The procedure is this: A patient walks into the casualty and picks a number and waits for their turn to see the doctor.

"For emergency cases, however, the patient is attended to immediately in the triage process: The nurse checks the blood pressure and temperature, among other things, before they are seen by the doctor," she explains.

She adds that the hospital policy is that emergency cases be handled without asking the patient to pay for services upfront.

"By the time the patient is wheeled to the ward, they will have been examined and, if need be, a consultant would have been called," Karimi explains.

She notes, however, that a Sh50,000 deposit is needed for illnesses such as tuberculosis and malaria.

"However no deposit will be required for patients with medical insurance since the costs would be taken care of by the cover," she explains.

For surgical cases, patients deposit between Sh70,000 and Sh100,000. For maternity, a deposit of between Sh35,000 and Sh100,000 is required. This, Karimi explains, is because some cases require operation, including Caesarean section. While the children’s ward at the hospital attracts a deposit of Sh20,000.

Although some hospitals have been accused of being profit-driven and operating like private members’ clubs locking out poor Kenyans, some doctors think otherwise.

According to Dr Robert Mathenge, a leading surgeon, it is cheaper in the long run to receive timely medical attention than to wait for long in the hope of getting cheaper service that may not be forthcoming.