Health Cabinet Secretary Deborah Mulongo has issued a stern warning to public hospitals against denying patients medical services due to Social Health Insurance Fund registration challenges, as Kenya transitions from the defunct NHIF to the new system.
Speaking during her maiden tour of Mombasa since assuming office, Mulongo insisted that patients, especially those who need critical care for cancer and kidney disease, should be helped to access medical services.
During her visit to several health facilities in the coastal city, the CS came face-to-face with the stark reality of SHIF rollout challenges. She saw virtually empty beds in critical-care sections like oncology units, a worrying sign that many patients were staying away for fear that they were not covered under the new scheme.
Cancer patients
Several cancer patients seeking treatment reportedly had to pay for treatment from their own pockets, as some hospitals had stopped accepting NHIF cards. This left many struggling to access essential services, highlighting the urgency of fully implementing the new system.
Addressing reporters at Coast General Teaching and Referral Hospital, Mulongo called on county governments to ramp up efforts to register more citizens under the new healthcare scheme.
She underscored that counties play a crucial role as frontline implementers of SHIF, urging them to ensure that no patient is turned away due to registration setbacks.
“Let’s not send anyone home. Register everyone and let them access healthcare. County governments, you are the implementers. We are depending on you because it cannot be done from the national level,” Mulongo said.
“If you drop the ball, you will disappoint Kenyans. This is Universal Health Coverage, and it’s supposed to be a game-changer.”
While employed citizens have benefited from SHIF, she added, the transition must be inclusive to ensure that all Kenyans, regardless of their employment status, can access healthcare seamlessly.
Mulongo lauded the progress made so far in registering dialysis patients but urged officials to accelerate the process to prevent any gaps in patient care. “We are encouraging registration because we don’t want patients to be sent home. They need to receive care,” she added.
But her remarks were met with mixed reactions from healthcare officials on the ground. Some staff at Coast General, speaking on the condition of anonymity, cited system downtimes as a major stumbling block in the registration process, and they feared this could jeopardise the smooth rollout of SHIF.
Despite these challenges, no patient was denied treatment at Coast General, said CEO Iqbal Kandwalla. “We are not turning away any patients. The empty beds you’re seeing in the cancer centre are probably because the patients have already been served and have left,” he clarified.
