The Kenya National Union of Nurses (KNUN) has weighed in on the recent unfortunate scenario where doctors at the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) performed a brain surgery on the wrong patient.
The hospital came under the spotlight on Thursday, following a revelation that surgeons operated on the wrong person in an attempt to remove a blood clot, only to realize the mistake hours into the operation.
According to KNUN Secretary General Seth Panyako, the same is a demonstration of carelessness on the side of the hospital management and involved doctors.
With the hospital saying that the situation came as a result of identification mix-up, Panyako rubbished the claims terming the same as laziness.
''The identification has to be done thrice, in the wards, before the patient is wheeled to the theatre. Both the neuro-surgeon and the anesthetists must confirm and approve that the one patient being prepared for the operation is the actual one,'' Panyako told the press from his office in Nairobi Friday.
''We are having a situation where all the involved parties seem to have neglected their duties and only met the patient in the theatre,'' he added.
In response, the Ministry of Health has since sent the hospital Chief Executive Officer Lily Koros and Director of Clinical Services Bernard Githae on compulsory leave to allow for investigation.
The hospital has since said that both patients, whose medication costs will be footed by the government, are steady and recuperating in the hospital.