Nairobi Women’s Hospital responds to claims of exploiting patients

The Nairobi Women’s Hospital (NWH) board of directors says it has commenced an internal probe into claims that medical officers at the hospital have been colluding to unfairly generate revenue from patients.

In a statement issued on Monday, the board said it is also cooperating with the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentist Council which is also conducting an independent scrutiny into the allegations.

“We have noted with a lot of concern reports appearing in various media platforms in the recent past suggesting that there is some systematic approach by the hospital to unfairly generate revenue from patients,” said the board.

“Although we don’t believe this is the case, and in fact it is antithetical to our foundational principles, we take these allegations very seriously and are conducting an internal review as well as cooperating with the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentist Council as they carry out their independent review.”

The hospital landed in the spotlight after claims emerged that its medical officers are forced to recommend “unnecessary” laboratory tests and admissions as well as delay discharging of patients to supposedly rake in more money.

The allegations emerged after screenshots of conversations claimed to be from a WhatsApp group of Nairobi Women’s Hospital staffers were exposed online.

The messages showed discussions where medical officers were supposedly being given instructions on how to maximize revenue.

The board of directors maintains that the claims are not in line with the hospital’s mode of operation.

“We believe that good clinical practice makes business sense…. We carry out regular quality audits through our quality and standards department to ensure compliance with our policies, processes and continuous improvement in areas where we find gaps,” adds the statement.