The management of Kapkatet Sub County Hospital and the County Government of Kericho will have to compensate the family of the man who was taken to the morgue while still alive.
The Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council also want the hospital to apologize to the family for handling the patient wrongly.
The council has further directed Kapkatet hospital to establish and implement Standard Operating Procedures for receipt, confirmation and preservation of persons claimed to have died outside a hospital and submit a copy to the chair of the council within 30 days.
“Kapkatet hospital be and is hereby admonished for failing to institute and implement Standard Operating Procedures to ensure that people who pass on outside the hospital are certified dead before being taken to the mortuary,” KMPDC chief executive Daniel Yumbya said in a submission to the Senate Health Committee on Tuesday.
37-year old Peter Kigen was taken to Kapkatet hospital mortuary for preservation after being declared dead in November last year.
He was only discovered to be alive during the embalming process. He however died while receiving treatment at a different hospital.
According to the County Government of Kericho, the family of the deceased had gone to the hospital to seek the mortuary services after believing that their kin had died.
Governor Paul Chepkwony said that the patient was taken to Kapkatet sub county hospital on November 24, 2020 at around 7.30am in his submission to the senate.
In the report, it is alleged that the wife of the deceased realized that he had lost consciousness at around 4 am and alerted relatives who declared him dead.
They decided to wait till morning before seeking mortuary services.
“The persons in the vehicle claimed that they were bringing in a dead relative from home and were seeking mortuary services. The security officer on duty directed them to the hospital casualty for confirmation of the death,” Chepkwony said.
The family did not obtain a registration receipt as required and just proceeded to the mortuary without a clinician confirming that their kin had died.
Senators questioned the manner which the matter was handled and demanded for investigations into the matter to ensure those responsible are brought to book.
They also questioned why the patient remained at the hospital for six days before being transferred to Kericho County Hospital on December 3.
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