Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) failed to admit a severely injured accident victim due to inadequate bed capacity.
KNH Deputy Director of clinical services Dr Simeon Monda, defended the move saying that they could not admit the victim because there was nowhere to put him.
“All the 21 beds in the ICU were occupied and up until an hour before we admitted him, no one had been discharged,” he said.
Mr Alex Madaga was hit by a speeding car along Waiyaki Way on Monday at around 9pm and was rushed to Kikuyu Mission Hospital, but doctors referred him to Kenyatta Hospital for specialized treatment since he was bleeding in the brain.
According to the paramedics, Mr Madaga spent 18 hours in the ambulance until their oxygen supply ran out and they had to rush back to Kikuyu Mission Hospital to replenish.
The victim's wife said that the only reason the husband was admitted on Tuesday at around 5:30pm, was because his cousin who claimed to be a lawyer complained about the disregard for the victim's life.
“It took the complaints from my husband’s cousin for him to be admitted, then a bed was available and he was admitted,”said the wife.
Mr Madaga was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit in Kenyatta Hospital where doctors attending to him said that he was in a very critical condition.
Dr Monda said that KNH admits more than 2,500 patients in a day and that they needed around 125 ICU beds, but the hospital had only 21 beds.
