Tharaka Nithi Governor and the chair of the Council of Governors Health Committee, Muthomi Njuki, has suspended a number of health workers in his county following the death of an expectant mother.
According to the governor, cases of maternal deaths in the country are on the increase, and health workers are to be blamed.
The governor revealed that these deaths were unnecessary and could easily be avoided if health workers paid more attention to patients and shunned negligence.
Governor Njuki argued that the heightened cases of maternal deaths in the country have been enabled by medical negligence among the workers.
While citing the incident in his county, Njuki revealed that the mother died due to delayed blood matching caused by poor communication between the lab and the theatre.
"The death happened because there was a breakdown of communication between the lab and the theatre. There was a need for an emergency supply of four pints of blood, which the lab said could not be matched within the time it was required, and by the time it was availed, the mother had died," the governor explained.
Following the costly blunder, the government suspended all the officials involved, including the health workers.
"I am not sorry to say this, but the officials who were involved are now under suspension because it is very wrong for somebody who walked in with life to die because of small mistakes," the governor said.
While there have been significant improvements in reducing cases of maternal deaths, it is still a challenge in Kenya.
So far, 7,764 Kenyan women have died during childbirth since 2020, and the recent global funding cuts by the US are threatening progress in reducing maternal deaths, potentially impacting Kenya’s healthcare system.
To curb these deaths, CS Aden Duale has directed all regulatory bodies under the Ministry of Health to survey and report to him every three months on the country's maternal mortality rate.
Meanwhile, MOH and the Council of Governors (CoG) have signed an Intergovernmental Participatory Agreement with all 47 counties aimed at transforming the public healthcare system through full digitisation.
In the agreement, counties will transition to paperless healthcare operations, integrating electronic medical records and digital hospital management systems.
