The Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentist Council
has cleared the Nairobi Women’s Hospital of all overcharging allegations, confirming that the
Hospital’s fees are in line with industry benchmarks. The Council, however, provided a number of
recommendations aimed at improving information management and business communications
across the institution, which the Hospital wholly embraces.
The Council’s findings include:
• There is no evidence of overcharging at the Nairobi Women’s Hospital, or any instances
where the fees charged were above the recommended rates provided in the Medical
Practitioners and Dentists (Professional Fees) Rules, 2016.
• The Hospital’s senior management team must better manage, direct and/or correct the
nature of communications and language used across all formal business
communications.
• The Nairobi Women’s Hospital has systems in place addressing outpatient, admissions
and discharges.
In view of the above, the Council made a set of recommendations to enhance the Hospital’s
internal processes, including: enhancing the incorporation of doctors in the senior leadership
team to offer medical guidance; putting in place an appropriate policy of information
management and reviewing all business communications protocols; and using only appropriate
language in any correspondence.
“The health and needs of our patients always have been and always will be our priority,” said Dr.
Sam Thenya, founder of the Nairobi Women’s Hospital. “It was important to open our hospitals to
an independent review, and we thank the Council for their detailed assessment and feedback.
We will comply with all of their recommendations, as well as implement further improvements to
ensure we are continuing to provide the highest quality service to our patients.”
In addition to the Council’s inquiry, the Board of the Nairobi Women’s Hospital engaged an
independent firm to review the hospital’s policies and practices and make recommendations for
further enhancing the quality of patient care. Building on the Council’s recommendations, the
Nairobi Women’s Hospital will immediately undertake the following actions to build on its current
quality standards:
- Review the company’s governance structure to ensure that clear and effective
communication lines are maintained, and that the existing quality control functions within
the Hospital have a second line of reporting directly to the Board; - Implement a training programme to raise awareness of the Hospital’s compliance policies
and procedures, its focus on delivering quality healthcare at an affordable price, and its
existing whistleblowing procedures; - Update internal reporting protocols to ensure a comprehensive monitoring of all
admissions and discharges; and - Regularly assess the proportion of Medical Doctors and Clinical Officers across the
Hospital, so as to guide the organisation on the ethics of good clinical practice.
“We are committed to tackling this matter in a manner that lives up to the long-standing trust that
the authorities, the regulators, the insurance companies, the medical community and the patients
have placed in us,” said Dr. Thenya. “We will continue to do everything in our power to provide
the best possible healthcare to our patients at the most affordable prices.”
