Senator bemoans sick healthcare system

Nyeri Senatorial Nominee Ephraim Maina at Serena Hotel in Nairobi on Thursday 11/05/17. They urge losers to join them to campaign for Uhuru as Jubilee 2017 president 2017. [PHOTO:BONIFACE OKENDO/STANDARD]

Public hospitals in the county have no drugs, are understaffed and have barely functioning equipment, Senator Ephraim Maina has said.

The county government has been under pressure to address staff shortages and lack of drugs and critical equipment such as dialysis machines at the Nyeri County Referral Hospital.

The lawmaker said the facility's intensive care unit could accommodate only two patients despite having a capacity to handle six. But four of the beds did not have functioning equipment.

He said the county government was prioritising expansion of a mortuary and re-carpeting of roads at the expense of healthcare provision.

"This hospital is the main referral facility in (Central) region. Let us not talk about extending the mortuary or building roads yet our hospitals are not offering services," Maina said, adding that if the county government was facing budgetary constraints, then it should stop some "programmes so that healthcare can be prioritised".