Renal unit
Kidney patients at the Malindi Sub County Hospital are staring at death following the collapse of dialysis machines at the health facility’s renal unit.
Only one out of the eight machines is working, forcing health workers to reduce the time a kidney patient stays at the machines from the usual four hours to two to accommodate more patients, according to the renal patients’ representatives.
“Usually, a kidney patient requires at least two four-hour dialysis sessions per week, but now each of us is forced to go through the process once a week, with each session lasting only two hours,” said Mr. Stephen Angore, one of the patients.
Mr. Angore said most of the patients cannot afford the Sh12,000 charged by private health facilities per session and they have been relying solely on the Malindi Sub County Hospital renal unit since the private facilities require cash payments.
“The private health facilities such as Tawfiq and Mephi hospitals require us to pay cash because they claim to have issues with the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF), but we cannot afford the cash. Mr. Angore said the problem started last year when five machines collapsed, forcing the county government to install three new ones, which have also broken down leaving only one.
He blamed the hospital management for not servicing the machines, adding that the one that is operational does not have a dialyzer, rendering it ineffective.
He called on Governor Gideon Mung’aro to personally intervene and save the patients from imminent death, adding that due to lack of proper dialysis, the patients are unable to sleep because they cannot breathe properly and that their limbs were swollen.
His sentiments were echoed by Abdulahi Golo, who said he had witnessed the death of some renal patients due to lack of dialysis, and asked the county government to prioritize the unit in order to save lives. Daniel Wambua on his part reminded Governor Mung’aro to remember his campaign pledge that he would buy ten dialysis machines at the facility as well as revamp the entire health sector in the county.
Zilpah Wanje urged the county government to address the lack of reagents at the renal facilities, saying even when the machines were fully operational, there was lack of reagents to enable the health experts to assess the progress of their patients.
Malindi Sub County Hospital Superintend Dr. David Mang’omg’o acknowledged that there were problems at the renal unit but noted that the process of fixing it was on and would be completed by close of business Monday.
Dr. Mang’ong’o, who spoke over the phone, however denied the claim that the renal unit lacks dialyzers and reagents.