Nakuru Level Five Hospital on the spot after patient disappears

The Nakuru Level Five Hospital is on the spot after a patient admitted to the facility disappeared under unclear circumstances.

Julius Waithaka, 56, who hailed from Shabab estate within Nakuru town, was admitted to ward 11, bed 35, last Wednesday at around 10am.

“Waithaka fell sick and we rushed him to the hospital. He was there on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday before he went missing on Saturday,” said the patient's colleague Sammy Waiya.

Yesterday, a group of mechanics stormed the hospital and demanded audience with the management to establish Waithaka's whereabouts, a week after he was last seen.

Mr Waiya said they had informed the hospital's management of Waithaka's disappearance, but there was no urgency to find him.

“The hospital did not respond to the case when we raised the issue. We were instead directed to check for him at the mortuary, but we did not find his body,” said Waiya, a mechanic.

Joyce Mwangi, Waithaka's niece, said she visited the hospital on Monday after receiving news of her uncle's disappearance but did not get answers on what had happened to him.

Ms Mwangi said the hospital's managers told her they had reported the case at the Showground Police Station.

Out of curiousity, she said, she went to the said station but was surprised to find that a complaint had not been lodged. “The management told me they were investigating the disappearance of my uncle but I was surprised they had not reported the incident,” said Mwangi.

She reported the case and was booked under Occurrence Book No. 11/6/8/2018.

The hospital-in-charge Joseph Mburu acknowledged that Waithaka was admitted at the facility for three days, suffering from hypertension, and was discovered missing at around 6.30pm on Saturday.

“The patient was reviewed during ward rounds and discharged. But the patient did not get a discharge summary that is kept in the hospital file because he had not been cleared,” said Dr Mburu.

He added that despite reporting the incident to the police and writing a statement, they were not given an OB number.

Nakuru OCPD Samuel Obara declined to comment on the matter. He claimed "the media is not objective". Police commander Hassan Barua said he was not aware of the incident but promised to visit Showground Police Station and follow up on the same.