Board’s move to end ‘bad medicine’ welcome

The Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board has revamped its operations to stem the tide of prolonged professional complaints filed against doctors and hospitals in the country.

The move comes in the wake of a concerted onslaught on bad medicine, a campaign series that this newspaper launched early this year as part of our social advocacy journalism to clean up the health sector.

Kenyans have filed a litany of complaints against hospitals and doctors in cases involving permanent injuries or even death due to medical negligence. For a long time, the MPDB had looked like a toothless bulldog unable and deal with serious complaints filed or clear a backlog of cases.

Not anymore. Monday, the board met and meted out penalties on many doctors and hospitals found guilty of negligence. But even better, the board plans to streamline its administration of justice to clear a backlog of cases that have festered the association and bring closure to hundreds of cases that remain outstanding some dating back years.

Our judicial system has already been revamped to ensure swift justice all over the country with the hiring of magistrates and judges. The new broom is now sweeping the board, and Kenyans expect the same.

Countless man-hours and time have been wasted by relatives of patients seeking to get compensation, or simply the truth, on behalf of patients who were poorly handled by hospitals — or given the wrong medication — resulting in permanent disability or death.

Our “bad medicine” campaign was born out of the need to address thousands of complaints that remained unresolved against doctors and hospitals that almost made the public believe both groups were untouchables.

There was a fallacy touted that doctors and institutions could not be held responsible for death of their patients. That appears to be in the past.

The next stage for the board is to decentralize the system and provide justice for complaints in the 46 counties outside Nairobi. The board must also expedite the complaints swiftly. Justice delayed is justice denied.

For its part, MPDB has to its credit, responded to the cries of the public. It has demonstrated it is an institution that is not only responsive to public demands but is committed to ensuring justice for patients who have been faulted by the medical profession.