Public outcry as Nakuru Hospitals run short of essential drugs

Shortage of essential drugs at the Nakuru level five hospital and several other county hospitals has raised concern among the residents who have been forced to acquire the drugs elsewhere.

The situation has been so dire to a point of sparkling conversation on the social media where residents expressed their frustrations while trying to access health services at the hospital.

The conversation was initiated by a digital outlet which made a post regarding the challenges of drug shortage complaining of patients being forced to purchase basic medications from private pharmacies.

“I think things are not okay at Nakuru PGH. A referral hospital, but hakuna dawa. In case you are admitted there, unatumwa dawa ukanunue nje because hospitali haina dawa. Imagine hadi paracetamol hawana. Surely address this issue on your platform,” the complaint reads.

In a phone interview with Mtaa Wangu, Roselyn Mungai, County Executive Committee Member for Health, confirms the shortage, acknowledging that some essential medicines have been lacking not only at primary level facilities but also specifically at hospitals.

She notes that the shortage stems from administrative delays in the quarterly budgeting process and explains that hospitals generating Facility Improvement Funds (FIF) are required to submit quarterly budgets for approval before incurring any expenditure, a process that sometimes takes considerable time.

“With the beginning of every quarter, the hospitals that generate FIF have to submit a quarterly budget, so that they can get approval to incur expenditure. That process sometimes takes a while administratively. So that is the fate that PGH faced,” she says.

The CEC admits that the delay in approving the hospitals' Authority to Incur Expenditure (AIE) was the department's fault and adds that PGH received its authorization last week, and medicine procurement has since been initiated.

However, she observes that even with approval in place, restocking cannot happen immediately. She says the county insists that hospitals procure medicines exclusively from the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA) and Mission for Essential Drugs and Supplies (MEDS) rather than local merchants, citing cost-effectiveness and drug safety concerns.

“We insist that the hospitals don't procure medicine from local merchants because it introduces another dynamic. First of all, it's not cost-effective, and you cannot guarantee the safety of medicines,” she notes.

When asked which specific drugs are currently missing, Mungai declines to provide details but acknowledges that an array of essential medicines that should be available have been out of stock.

She says the problem is not unique to PGH, revealing that other county hospitals received their AIEs last week. However, she notes that she has not personally received complaints from other facilities apart from PGH.

The health CEC expresses optimism that the situation will be resolved soon, saying she hopes that by the end of the week, all stocks will have been restored within all county hospitals.