Health Cabinet Secretary Deborah Barasa has assured the public of her ministry's commitment to resolving challenges faced by patients accessing services through the Smart Health Access (SHA) system.
This comes after a group of patients interrupted her press briefing to express frustrations about delays and inefficiencies in the system.
Speaking to the media after visiting Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) on Thursday, January 16, Barasa acknowledged their grievances and reiterated the ministry’s dedication to addressing concerns raised by the public
"We have an open door policy, if you have any questions or concerns feel free to consult. We have been able to identify the patients that had come into the ministry; we are engaging to see how we can improve their services later on in the future," she said.
Barasa further revealed that some of the affected individuals had already been assisted and that her team was working to ensure the system becomes more efficient.
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"Some of them have been able to come back and the services have been provided and we will have even testimonials from the same. We acknowledge the concern and we will be working tirelessly to ensure that patients are receiving the services that they need," she added.
Barasa's statement follows that of KNH CEO Dr. Evanson Kamuri who apologized to Kenyans following a two-day system downtime that temporarily disrupted patient services and administrative processes at the hospital.
In a statement on Wednesday, January 15, he reassured the public that normal operations have resumed following the alignment of the Social Health Authority (SHA) system with KNH’s internal systems.
"Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) wishes to acknowledge a slight lapse in patient care today and reassure the public that the Social Health Authority (SHA) system is now fully operational and aligned with the KNH system. Normal operations have resumed, and patients are being attended to.
"The recent system downtime experienced over the last two days temporarily disrupted some services, causing delays in patient clearance and administrative processes. We deeply regret the inconvenience this may have caused to our patients and their families," the statement read.
