Patients of a Hospital were horrified after they had to sleep next to a corpse for eight hours. After the patient died around midnight and his corpse was not removed until the next day afternoon.
The hospital ward
A patient who was taken from Rongo Sub-County Hospital in Kenya, on Thursday evening, died around midnight with his body laying in the hospital bed until 4:00pm the following day.
The body was kept in the hospital ward for 8 hours due to lack of a mortuary. The situation caused panic and horror among caretakers as well as patients in the ward.
“We were not at ease in this room where the person died. My cousin was visibly shaken and traumatised because the body was in the bed immediately next to his,” said Peter Owino.
The hospital’s Medical Officer, Ruwa Mwatelah, blamed the lack of a national government mortuary nearby and the logistics involved in transferring bodies from the wards, adding that there is only one mortuary in the entire Migori County – at Migori Referral Hospital, which is kilometres away.
Mwatelah added that the fact that the deceased’s relatives could not be identified or notified made the situation worse.
“We always release bodies to any mortuary when there are family members involved. The ministry is yet to create a room in the hospital where we can store the dead so as to prevent fear and trauma for those still being treated,” said Mwatelah.
County Health Executive Joseph Nyamita said plans were underway to build a mortuary in Awendo and Rongo.
“These things need planning as they involve logistics and finances but we are thinking of something, however small,” he said.
Source: Nairobi Wire