Up to three patients are sharing a single bed in Kenyatta National Hospital Children’s ward, K24 Digital can reveal.
The wards are congested and grappling with poor infrastructure as caregivers of the children’s in the wards are forced to stand the whole night since there are no seats.
At the paediatric ward, mothers in some cubicles are forced to lay mattresses on the floor to spend the night with their admitted children.
‘’We are forced to sleep while standing here as you can see the beds are congested and no chairs to seat. My legs have even started to swell’’, one of the mothers said.
A nurse who spoke on condition of anonymity due to fear of victimisation told K24 Digital that KNH is currently struggling with a high number of patients that has pushed them to share beds.
“The situation is terrible. We have been having even four patients sharing a bed due to the congestion,” she said.
A caregiver identified as Mary told K24 Digital that since she admitted her baby one week ago, she hasn't been given a chair to sit on, forcing her to remain standing day and night as she monitors her young ones.
"Here, you can't get a chair unless you steal from your neighbour. Most of us remain standing 24 hours," Mary said.
He said the hospital has been receiving a high number of patients yet it has no space to accommodate them all, hence the bed-sharing.
Our efforts to get a comment from KNH CEO Evanson Kamuri were fruitless as he neither picked up our calls nor replied to our text messages.
