The September 21 ruling made in a Magistrate’s Court in Lodwar in favour of a man who lost his wife at a referral hospital in Turkana over medical negligence has been hailed by residents.
They said that it should be an eye-opener for the new county government administration.
Ms Hellen Losusi Natini and a neighbour had visited Lodwar County and Referral Hospital at around 4pm on May 29, 2020 after experiencing labour pains but died by 9pm because she was not properly attended to within reasonable time.
Mr Paul Esekon Nangiro, through lawyers Ekusi Lore and Moses Onyango, sued the hospital’s medical superintendent, the Turkana county government and the county secretary for damages arising from the death of his 34-year-old wife.
The late Hellen Losusi Natini’s portrait. On May 29, 2020, in the company of a neighbor, she visited Lodwar County and Referral Hospital after experiencing labor pains but died by 9pm because she was not properly attended to within reasonable time.
Long wait
Ms Rose Ekai, the neighbour, testified that on reaching the hospital, they were ushered in and told to wait outside though urine samples had been taken.
“The wait was long and nothing was happening despite [Ms Natini] complaining of severe pain and requesting to be left to sleep because she was weak. The doctor was informed and still didn’t do anything,” Ms Ekai told the court.
Mr Lore and Mr Onyango cited various cases to justify that the defendants had a duty to attend to the patient with reasonable skill and care but they failed to do so.
The three defendants, who filed their joint statement of defence through the firm P.S Kisaka and Company advocates, denied negligence, stating that a postmortem on Ms Natini’s body showed the cause of death was uterine rupture from an already stitched left part.
Medical negligence
In his ruling, Senior Principal Magistrate Desderias Orimba said medical negligence arises where a patient consults a professional or a professional entity and the professional or entity is required to apply skills and judgment to improve the patient’s health.
“It was rightfully submitted that failure to exercise skills and judgment alone amounts to breach of professional duty of care and amounts to medical negligence. In my view, the plaintiff proved that the defendant was liable for medical negligence that led to the death,” Mr Orimba said.
He awarded Mr Nangiro Sh518,050 as special damages to cover hospital and funeral expenses and the letter of admission. The magistrate said Ms Natini experienced great pain and suffering before her death and awarded her family Sh1 million.
Mr Paul Esekon Nangiro carrying the portrait of his deceased wife Ms Hellen Losusi Natini at the grave site on October 7, 2022.
The costs for loss of expected life was Sh1.5 million, while the cost of loss of dependency – as Ms Natini, a businesswoman, was a mother of five living with all her children aged between three and 18 in Lodwar, while her husband was a police officer in Juja – was Sh2,903,040.
Poor services
Mr Yusuf Ali Aremons on Friday said the ruling proved the many complaints from the public about poor services at the referral hospital.
“There are many more people who have died in Lodwar County and Referral Hospital as a result of negligence. It is a dangerous hospital to go to especially when one is critically ill and relatives don’t know how to sue the hospital or staff,” Mr Aremons said.
Ms Jane Akitela said residents of Turkana County, just like other Kenyans, must continue demanding quality healthcare from private and public hospitals.
He urged hospitals to embrace continuous improvement of the health services they offer to patients as quality healthcare was a basic right for all Kenyans.
Governor’s impromptu visit
In August, following a prolonged public outcry over poor services, Governor Jeremiah Lomorukai made an impromptu visit to the hospital at night and came face to face with what he described as its pathetic state.
During Mr Lomorukai’s three-hour-long visit, he witnessed desperate conditions patients faced, including lack of ambulances for referrals to Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret and a limited number of staff and beds.
“The hospital is in a pathetic situation because in some wards patients are forced to sleep on beds that have no mattresses while others in congested wards are sleeping on the floor,” he said.
He observed that there was only one functioning ambulance in the county and there was no guarantee of fuel when an emergency arose because fuel suppliers feared that they would not be paid.
“I will urgently meet with top officials in the Health department so that services at all health facilities are improved in my first 100 days in office,” he said.
He said his administration would set aside funds to establish a modern referral hospital on an already available 30 acres to reduce referrals to other counties. BY DAILY NATION