Study cites Kenya for detaining poor patients in hospitals

Kenya has gained global notoriety as one of the countries detaining patients who are unable to settle medical bills.

According to a study published by Centre on Global Health Security in the United Kingdom, Kenya is now in the ranks of Nigeria, Ghana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Zimbabwe, and Liberia, which are infamous for confining patients.

While one of the main reasons noted for detention is poverty and lack of basic health insurance. Those mostly affected in Kenya are women, accident victims, and children, especially those ailing from cancer.

Denial of Rights

“One survey of a Kenyan hospital found that 53 per cent of uninsured families with children undergoing cancer treatment cited detention as a reason for abandoning treatment,” read the December 2017 paper titled Hospital Detentions for Non-payment of Fees - A Denial of Rights and Dignity.

Other patients include those who require trauma services and unplanned surgeries followed by long and expensive inpatient health care.

The paper details a qualitative study of 13 Kenyan health facilities where 52 of the 641 women surveyed (8.1 per cent) reported having being detained for failing to pay their bills.

Kenyatta National Hospital and Pumwani Maternity are the two facilities listed to be ‘well known’ for such cases.

This study aptly captures the plight of Veronicah Nyangai, who was admitted to Nairobi West Hospital on December 16, 2016. She was not only pregnant with hopes of becoming a new mother, but she looked forward to a normal delivery.

That was, however, not the case. Three days later, she developed complications and a caesarean operation was done. Unfortunately, the baby died. And that marked the beginning of her nightmare.

The hospital did not only refuse to let her go over unpaid bills that stood then at Sh410,333 but also would not allow her to bury her child.

Despite being discharged on December 23, 2016, she was moved to a general ward where she was detained. It took a lawyer and a case in court to have her released in March 2017.

Veronicah’s case is just one in thousands of incidents that have made Kenya be red-flagged in the latest study as one of the countries in the region notorious for detaining patients.

There is also a recent case of 12-year-old Rehema Katana, who could not be released from KNH until a bill of Sh179,884 was either paid or an agreement penned on how it would be cleared.

This is despite her admission to the hospital on the directive of Health Cabinet Secretary Cleopa Mailu after her case of being misdiagnosed with TB came to limelight.

“The paper published December 6 cites a case of 2015 where some patients then in a public hospital claimed they had been pressured into having sex with hospital staff in exchange for cash to help pay their bills,” it reads.

It further adds: “Although a slight majority of named hospitals in the reported cases are private, it is important to note that the absolute numbers of patients detained in public hospitals are often far higher.”

It goes ahead to cite how hospital security guards are at times paid a special commission to keep watch in case any detained patient sneaks out or is sneaked out. Bad light is also shone on Kenyan police for their lack of seriousness in handling the matter.

In Nigeria, cases were noted of some nurses and doctors tracking patients who escaped from their facilities and having their pending bills slashed from their salaries.

While most of the women in the red-flagged countries are still giving birth at home despite the strides made with free maternity care, it was said that such cases of detention could be playing a role.

“In one case, 60 women were held next to an overflowing toilet in a Kenyan hospital and one victim reported being told by nurses that she was ‘stupid’ for not having known she was pregnant after being raped,” the paper reads.

The study also cites a case of a poor Kenyan woman who was made to lie on the floor a day after a caesarean operation.