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{
    "id": 916380,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/916380/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 454,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kinangop, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Zachary Thuku",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13380,
        "legal_name": "Zachary Kwenya Thuku",
        "slug": "zachary-kwenya-thuku"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to speak on this Report that has been compiled by the Departmental Committee on Health. From the outset, I congratulate our Committee for a job well done. It really burned the midnight oil to come up with this Report in the interest of Kenyans, having realised that we cannot achieve the UHC without addressing the issues that are ailing our referral hospitals. Some are not popular especially the Spinal Injury Hospital, the Mathari National Teaching and Referral Hospital, the MTRH and the famous KNH. There is a raft of recommendations that if this Report is adopted, will be the game changer in terms of achieving UHC. The KNH is one of the hospitals that everybody looks to in terms of apex health solution provisions, but you will realise that it experiences very many challenges. As my colleague, Hon. (Dr.) Murgor, has put it, the issue of staffing is quite serious. The period that a patient takes from the time he is admitted to the time he receives treatment is long. It is not less than two weeks before a patient starts receiving serious medical attention because of understaffing. There are issues of the ratio of nurses to patients, doctors to patients and all other cadres. If for sure this House cannot stamp its authority and make sure that we fund KNH adequately, then patients will die. The mortality rate will only increase as we hope that our people will receive any form of treatment. The issue of understaffing cannot be wished away. It needs to be addressed. The other issue is that of underfunding. Access to medicines and all other facilities that should be accorded in hospitals is a challenge at KNH. The other issue is that KNH needs a serious overhaul in terms of standard operating procedures so that we can upscale and realign ourselves with the new realities in the world today. We also came to realise that there is a big challenge when it comes to referral systems. Access to healthcare is a constitutional right. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}