Health

Admissions stopped at Isiolo Referral Hospital as nurses go on strike

Isiolo County Referral Hospital that has suspended admissions due to a nurses strike. (Photo: Waweru Wairimu)

By Waweru Wairimu | Thursday, June 20, 2024

Patients admitted to the facility had to reach out to their families to take them home while others remained stranded outside the wards for hours

Isiolo County Referral Hospital has temporarily suspended admissions following a nurse's strike that started Thursday, paralysing some of the services.

Patients admitted to the facility had to reach out to their families to take them home while others remained stranded outside the wards for hours.

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Medical Superintendent Dr Hussein Abdi had yesterday in a letter to Heads of Departments indicated that all patients in the wards would be taken care of until they would be discharged or formally referred.

"We regret that admissions will be suspended from today (Wednesday) until the nurses strike is resolved," Dr Hussein said in the June 19 letter.

Some men at work outside the male ward at Isiolo Referral Hospital pictured on June 20, 2024. (Photo: Waweru Wairimu)

But some of the patients who had been admitted to the wards shared their frustrations over the abrupt decision which exposed them to financial strain.

An 80-year-old man who underwent surgery at the hospital on Wednesday is among the patients who were discharged despite having not recovered.

His family had to dig deeper into their pockets to take him home, more than 50 kilometres away.

"How do you discharge someone who had a major operation the day after?" one of the kin said as they helped the elderly man into a waiting car at the hospital.

Expectant women at the hospital's maternity wing also lamented the hospital's lack of a clear discharge plan and alleged misconduct by some of the health workers.

"I am due for delivery but I have been asked to leave," said one of the women at the hospital.

Others reported waiting for hours before they could be attended to while in the wards.

There were no major activities at the hospital Thursday afternoon when a few patients were spotted leaving the wards while carrying their luggage. The hospital's waiting bay and corridors were all empty.