The Nairobi County will equip health centres and keep them open longer to ease pressure on Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH).
This was agreed during a meeting between the Ministry of Health and Nairobi County government on a three-year plan to ease congestion at KNH.
Details of the plan were revealed on Wednesday by Director of Medical Services Jackson Kioko after the meeting at the hospital with county officials and KNH management.
Part of the agreement was that the county budgets for the equipping of all its health centres with the necessary workforce and equipment.
The high number of patients going to KNH, which is meant to be a referral facility, has been blamed on the break-down of devolved health care system.
Dr Kioko said all county hospitals should also start operating round the clock.
“KNH will now be monitoring how many patients it gets and in what status, whether self-referral or hospital referrals," he said.
Some of the health centres targeted are in informal settlements like Korogocho, Mathare and Kariobangi.
“We have given ourselves three years to make sure KNH is decongested so that people do not have to queue at the hospital for a service they can easily get within their locality,” said Kioko.
The push to decongest KNH was initiated by Health Cabinet Secretary Sicily Kariuki, who described it as her very first assignment after taking office early in the year. She launched a team to come up with recommendations.