The Portreitz Psychiatric unit in Changamwe where 30 mentally challenged patients were forceful discharged. [Photo/ nation.co.ke]
30 mentally challenged patients at the Portreitz Sub-County Hospital in Mombasa were on Wednesday forcibly discharged after nurses at the facility downed their tools.
The patients, who had been admitted at the Psychiatric Unity, were discharged after they started disturbing other patients in the hospital.Mombasa County Health Chief Officer Dr Khadija Shikelly said they had no option but to release the patients because they were becoming unmanageable, as the nurses who administer drugs to them had joined the ongoing strike.“The patients under the psychiatric unit at the Portreitz Hospital had jumped off their special unit and were causing disturbance at the main hospital. The administration had to call their parents and next of kin to come and pick them,” said Shikelly.Claire Muraguri, one of the patients’ mother, pleaded with the government to intervene in the matter, arguing that the patients might pose a threat if taken to their respective homes, as they depend on specialized treatment.“My kid is suffering from bi-polar, a condition where one occasionally becomes mentally ill and I cannot manage him at home,” said Muraguri.However, Mombasa County Nurses Union Secretary General Peter Maroko has appealed to nurses in all public hospital not to resume duty until their grievances are addressed.The strike entered its third day on Wednesday, with six patients reported dead at the Coast General Hospital.