FACT CHECK: Is Siaya County Referral Hospital Denying Patients Caretakers at Night?

The information posted by Nyakundi was ostensibly shared by “A source at Siaya County Hospital”.

How accurate was this information?

A site visit at Siaya County Referral Hospital on Tuesday 17 December 2024 at 9:00 PM revealed the following.

One. The emergency reception of the hospital is open to outpatients throughout the night, although for obvious reasons staffing is thin. We have been told, however, that there’s always a qualified doctor, nurse and several medical interns at the emergency port throughout the night.

Two. There’s no human activity in the corridors leading to the Wards, except for a solitary light from a window housing the Accounts Section. This section also works throughout the night.

Three. The laboratory is a beehive of silent activity even so late at night. Ahead of the laboratory along the pathway leading to the wards is the X-ray bay. Right now it’s deserted but whoever sent the photos shared by Nyakundi must have taken them from here. In essence the photos were not taken from within any of the Wards.

Have we met or seen anyone sleeping “outside like cows” as the post sensationally puts it? No. Apart from the security we saw a four-wheel vehicle at the parking lot with lights on. We approached the vehicle only to find a man and a woman making out. They claimed to have brought a friend who was inside processing admission for an emergency case.

A few motorcycle riders are holding a discussion on the English Premier League with the askaris at the gate. Now this serenity is not what was captured in that social media post.

So who is telling the truth?

We now call the hospital superintendent and he is surprised that members of the Directorate of Communication from Siaya County Government have paid his facility a visit so late at night.

“Just like any other institution all over the world, we are only able to accommodate a given number of caretaker per patient, says the Siaya Referral Hospital Superintendent Mr. Felix Tindi, adding “Nonetheless we don’t throw out caretakers at night as the post claimed. In any case you would have caught us out in this impromptu visit.”

We call a Representative of the Kenya National Union of Nurses to verify if there are such incidences of callousness by the hospital administration on caretakers of patients.

“That’s not true, on the contrary all our patients have better beds and mattresses, that’s not even inside our wards,” was his response.

So we turn back our focus on to the source of the post. Blogger Cyprian Nyakundi has been in court severally for peddling misleading information. Most of the time he got off with light fines owing to his usefulness as a social media “big wig”. This category of influencers are always out for hire.

A well known strategy applied by digital media mercenaries is to provoke with negative publicity in order for silence to be bought. Even the small wig Siaya “sangwenyas” know that. It’s cheap, it’s simple and it always works.

Could it be then that someone has a bone to grind with the Orengo administration, particularly now that a series of events are slated to be hosted by the County Government of Siaya? Why, for instance, would anyone raise the cost of hosting the Piny Luo Cultural Festival vis-a-vis caretakers of patients sleeping outside in a hospital? What is the connection.

Our conclusion. Siaya has been subject of negative press and the last administration had no strategic policy to tackle this. With a revamped Department of Communication, Siaya County is now in the radar of every godforsaken naysayer. If at all any caretaker was denied access to their patients it is not regular facility practice.

The language of the Nyakundi post itself is malicious and lacking in merit. If the blogger did not find it necessary to countercheck the information before posting then he equally should be blamed for the mediocrity and dishonesty of the post.

Below is a reproduction of the full post for your consideration.

“Hello Cyprian. Please hide my identity. This is Siaya County Hospital, and caretakers of patients are chased out of the hospital and are sleeping outside like cows! 😢😢 The patients who need assistance are left alone, with some even falling off their beds.

The question is, if the caretakers are chased outside and the patient in critical condition needs assistance, who will call the nurse? The nurses on the night shift sometimes fall asleep.

Kindly address this issue, and if possible, have it reach Governor James Orengo”