It has reached such a time that Kenyans must demand for accountability not just from our leaders, but also from workers. For any improvement in quality, there has to be accountability and involvement of specialists and skilled workers in a field.
The demand for quality services in public hospitals will not be successful if everyone is not able to show the gap. The gap must be shown by the rate of unnecessary mortalities and morbidities that are preventable. It reaches a time when constant lamenting and complains from those directly affected and those involved in the care must stop.
Health systems involve human resource, proper amenities and adequate supply of pharmaceuticals and non pharmaceuticals as per the needs. Each arm of the three requirements now has to maintain and create a value of performance improvement.
It is clear from the needs for that for quality care to be achieved in public institutions; the National Government, County Governments, KEMSA and NHIF must be adequately involved. A weakness or lapse in any of them cripples the others. They are directly involved in financing and provision of necessary requirements.
The biggest question is that who hold this people to account. This should be a role of the citizens that had been given to regulatory bodies. Unfortunately all the regulatory bodies have failed. They have resorted purely on avenues to raise revenues by encouraging private enterprise. We will call them out.
Why the TRUMPET?
Citizens and health workers must take the mantle to demand for quality care in public hospitals. Health workers who operate in conditions that purely abet and oversee unavoidable deaths are also liable for criminal offence. It must be a rule that a health worker must of necessity stop working in an institution that does/has no basic requirements for proper care of patients. A health worker who does this will be taken to a court of law and charged with criminal negligence.
To be safe, a health worker must confirm the availability of essential basic drugs and properly validated equipment's to assist him/her at work. The absence of that gives them the right to stay away.
We are soon launching this TRUMPET demands through MEDICAL BRIFCASE KENYA.
