Medics who turn patients away face jail term

The Ministry of Health has drafted a Bill proposing that any health worker who fails to attend to an emergency case should pay a fine not exceeding Sh1 million, be jailed or both. [PHOTO: FILE/STANDARD]

Kenya: Any health worker or hospital which turns away a patient on emergency visit may be inviting hefty penalties in fines and even jail time.

A proposed Bill drafted by the Health ministry and which has partially been a cause of recent strikes, wants it made mandatory that all emergency cases be attended to immediately regardless of a patient’s ability to pay.

The Health Bill 2014 proposes that any health service provider who turns away a patient on emergency visit be fined or sent to jail.

“Any clinician who fails to provide emergency medical treatment while having the ability to do so commits an offence and is liable upon conviction to a fine not exceeding Sh1 million or imprisonment for a period not exceeding 12 months or both,” proposes the Bill. The proposal also includes institutions which are to be fined about Sh3 million.

In the past, this suggestion has been met with strong resistance from the private sector wanting it accompanied by a clause explaining who exactly will be meeting the cost of treating such people.

With the increasing number of armed robberies, terrorism, general violence and backstreet abortions, the Health Professionals and Health Stakeholders Consultative Forum said health emergencies are on the rise and require a rational approach.

The forum, which includes players from faith-based organisations and private health providers, had advised the drafters of the Bill to propose the establishment of an Emergency Medical Services Fund.

Without such or a similar mechanism to reimburse private facilities, then the forum said the good intentions of the punitive law would only fall flat on their faces.Such a fund, the forum said, would reimburse costs to private facilities which render services during emergencies.

The draft Bill suggests the establishment of an emergency medical treatment fund to provide for what it says are unforeseen situations. It however is non-committal on whether the same would be used to reimburse the private sector for emergency cases treated. The Health Bill 2014 also becomes the first legal document to spell out the details of who, where and under what circumstances in Kenya a procedure to terminate a pregnancy can be performed.

A trained medical officer, nurse, midwife or a clinical officer with skills to carry out an abortion will be legally covered by the suggested Bill to carry out the procedure if they have a valid practicing licence.

Free maternity

The Bill, which gives Parliament another chance to have a go at the controversial abortion debate, would also require that public hospitals acquire minimal infrastructure and human skills that allow for deserving women to get abortions as well as post-abortion services.

These suggestions seem to contradict the recent action by the Health ministry to suspend national guidelines for abortion services sent earlier to all health workers.

In December the ministry, under pressure from pro-life groups, suspended the guidelines for what the Director of Medical Services Dr Francis Kimani said is to allow for further consultations.

Conspicuously absent is any mention of whether the free maternity policy adopted by the Government last year would be ingrained in the legal document.