OMUTHIYA – Amid disease outbreaks around the country arising from unhygienic environments in which people live, the Omuthiya State Hospital is drowning in garbage. Bloodstained utensils, aprons, masks, gloves and other disposable material are scattered all over due to lack of rubbish bags.
This is still despite a cleaning exercise on Saturday undertaken across the country, which coincided with World Cleaning Day.
The situation has left staff, patients and community in fear of disease outbreaks. Agitated employees who spoke to New Era on condition of anonymity said rubbish has become the order of the day at the hospital, despite the cleaners’ efforts to tide up the place.
“Cleaners are trying their level best, but there are no rubbish bags to keep the dirty materials, instead they are dumped into the skip container, then get blown all over by the wind. We have complained and raised this matter with management but nothing is being done apart from being told there are no funds,” fumed a nurse.
Sources claim the issue of no plastics has been going on for about six months. “Usually we have colour coded plastics to store different materials. As it stands, we sometimes use black plastics, which we buy using our own funds or borrow from other institutions. Mind you all these things go straight to the local authority dumpsite,” echoed another staff.
Further sharing similar sentiments, another nurse, added that, “we have been selflessly going out of our way to buy rubbish bags including toilet papers or any other little things to be used at least by patients in the ward. Now we can’t continue, we are also tired of spending the little we get. Now we are all at risk of contracting diseases.”
The acting health director in the region, Dr Helena Nkandi-Shiimi has not responded to the queries despite requesting questions to be send, citing she was in meetings with the management.
The hospital is further struggling to operate efficiently as it is without a well-experienced and capacitated doctor since the resignation of Dr Ndambika Dilubenzi.
There are about three junior doctors who are still on probation.