Kenyatta Hospital to beef up security

The board of the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) has asked the management to hire more security personnel from private security firms to improve security at the key facility.

The directors have also asked the National Police Service to increase its coverage of the hospital to further boost safety.

This is even as the chairman of the board, Mark Bor, called on the public who may have been affected by the ongoing rape allegations by the hospital’s staff to report any complaints directly to the board or external investigators.

In a press statement, Mr Bor - a former Public Health and Sanitation Permanent Secretary - said that the hospital took the allegations touching on rape, attempted rape or fear by patients of sexual assault and petty theft within the hospital seriously.

“We endorse action by the hospital management to commence internal investigations into the allegations,” said Mr Bor.

His statement follows national outrage that has been building up since Friday after a Facebook post detailed allegations of sexual assault at the referral facility.

The allegations were made on a Facebook group known as "Buyer Beware", with some members labelling the hospital "a hotspot of all kinds of criminal activities".

Mr Bor also said that after touring the affected area (labour ward, maternity wing and the newborn unit), he has made recommendations for the hospital’s management to explore if breastfeeding mothers could be relocated closer to the unit.

“We have toured the affected area, spoke to patients and staff on their experiences and made suggestions relating to physical and functional infrastructural improvements,” he said.

Infants in the newborn unit are separated from their mothers for clinical reasons such as offering ICU support and controlling infections.