Nairobi Women’s Hospital’s WhatsApp Messages Were Authentic – KMPDC
The Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council (KMPDC) has found Nairobi Women’s Hospital guilty of operating outside the ethics of good clinical practice.
According to the doctor’s regulator, the leaked WhatsApp messages indicating delay in discharging patients and unnecessary admission of patients were authentic.
Appearing before the committee, ousted CEO Felix Wanjala took responsibility for the messages, adding that it was possible for third parties to misinterpret them.
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He also noted that the messages that did rounds on the interwebs were taken out of context.
The committee on its part found that the hospital management failed to direct, manage or correct the nature of the communication and language used in the WhatsApp messages.
The council also found that there were instances where decisions made by medical officers were overruled by clinical officers and nurses, who were a part of the management team at the hospital.
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“However, upon hearing the parties, it was clear that the business approach for the hospital should align with the ethics of good clinical practice, more so as relates to operational decisions taking precedence over physician autonomy,” the statement read.
While Nairobi Women’s Hospital was accused of overcharging patients, the council found that there was no evidence of overcharging or that fees charged by the facility were above the recommended rates.
The hospital has since been given three months to ensure compliance with the staffing requirements in all its nine health facilities as provided in Schedule One of Councils’ Health Institutions Rules of 2016.
The management of the health facility was taken over by American private equity fund, Evercare, after the scam was unearthed by a local media.
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