Team begins probe into infant death at Mama Lucy Hospital

The task-force commissioned to probe the recent infant death at Mama Lucy Hospital Thursday queried the hospital management over the unfortunate incident.

Doctors and nurses who administered medical care to the late Dominic Otieno, as well as management officials were grilled by the team.

The task force also visited Pumwani Hospital Thursday evening and will extend the exercise to Mbagathi Hospital Friday, to probe similar cases that have been reported in the past.

Chairman of the 11-member task-force, who also chairs the Nairobi County Public Service Board, Philip Kungu said that they were working towards restoring public confidence in Mama Lucy Hospital as the mortalities had cast the hospital in bad light.

"Investigations into the deaths of the two babies in these facilities have kicked off today (Thursday) and we are looking to restore confidence to this facility. Parents to Dominic are among the people we will have to talk to as we get a clear picture of what transpired," said Kungu.

Staff motivation

A nurse at the institution who only chose be identified as Mary said that salaries to some of the nurses had stalled, adding that this might have led to demoralisation of the workers and the resultant  'negligence' leading to the deaths of the babies.

"Majority of the staff have had to deal with delayed salaries and in some instances no pay. This could have led to the low delivery of services due to demoralisation," she said.

The death of 11-weeks old baby Dominic opened a can of worms that prompted Governor Evans Kidero to launch of a probe team to look into similar cases in the county.

The baby died at the hospital on Wednesday last week, after waiting five hours for an ambulance to transfer him to Kenyatta National Hospital for specialised treatment.

County Secretary Robert Ayisi had said the hospital has four ambulances but three were broken down.

In a statement the governor said, "It is very unfortunate to learn that a child's life was lost. We have launched investigations and audit to ascertain the cause of death."

"If indeed it was negligence by hospital personnel, then the responsible officer(s) will face prosecution. We are here to provide services to Nairobi residents and not to frustrate them,” said Kidero.