5th March, 2018
Kenya’s doctors’ union defended staff at the largest referral hospital after they were suspended for operating on the wrong patient. On Sunday Ouma Oluga, chief executive officer of the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists’ Union, said in a televised interview the mix-up at Kenyatta National Hospital laid bare the dangers to patients of an“overwhelmed” system and staff.
Kenyan media reported that a neurosurgery registrar, anaesthetist and two nurses had been suspended by the hospital. According to the media, the doctors did not realise they had opened the skull of the wrong patient until two hours into the procedure meant to remove a blood clot. Both the person operated on and the blood clot patients are in good condition, it said. The hospital’s spokesman did not answer requests for comment.