Why ‘Next of kin’ is important during hospital visits

Who remembers Mugo wa Wairimu? He is the man caught on tape sedating and raping female patients at a clinic he was running.

It was said that Mugo operated as a doctor. It would emerge that he was not registered with the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board (KMPDB) and was therefore not licensed to conduct any medical procedures. Mugo’s untoward behaviour prompted Kenyans to question professionalism on the part of health personnel. “I am not letting my wife visit another doctor without me being there,” one Twitter user, shaken by what he considered gross display of pervasion, admitted.

Mugo wa Wairimu may have been a quack but even among licensed health professionals it is possible that a few rogue personalities exist. “At any given moment a doctor is conducting diagnosis on a patient, it is important that there is a third party – maybe a nurse – in the room. A patient also has the right to ask that a trusted relative be present while a doctor conducts an examination,” offers Dr John Wachira, a urologist with AMREF Kenya.

The doctor adds: “A husband is a trusted relative for a married woman. It wouldn’t be out of place for him to be present as his wife is seen by a doctor. And while some examinations may need anesthesia, it would mean that an anesthesiologist is present. Such procedures cannot be performed in a personal clinic but rather within a hospital setting.”

Wachira believes that cases like Mugo’s should be handled as criminal since the people involved are not doctors and what they do should not be linked to the medical profession. But even so, he says, it would be advisable for next of kin to accompany patients during hospital visits – especially when diagnosis may be done.