By Christopher Omondi
Kanyakwar Dispensary, located in Railways Ward, Kisumu County, is a Level 2 medical facility. The facility offers basic outpatient care, laboratory services, and a pharmacy. The level 2 is supposed to be a step up from community-level services, as it should provide preventive and curative health services to the population.
However, Kanyakwar Dispensary is failing to deliver quality services as the residents of Kanyakwar are forced to seek medical assistance at other facilities, since the Kanyakwar Dispensary is short of equipment, infrastructure, and skilled personnel to enable quality service delivery.
“This Dispensary is just here for the name, there are no drugs for common illnesses like diabetes, bilharzia, and typhoid that are common in this area. When you go there, you are referred to a pharmacy shop at Kibuye since the pharmacy at the hospital is always short on drugs. The facility suffers from a lack of diagnostic equipment or special care, and so patients could be referred to another facility, or you may have to wait longer for test results, as the laboratory is also not well-equipped to offer test results for all situations. The facility also prioritizes its HIV programs and immunizations over other diseases that are prevalent in the area, and many health care workers at the facility lack sufficient training in managing patients, while the facility is also lacking in terms of patient-to-provider ratios, making it difficult for workers to provide quality care. This is highlighted by the long queues of patients who are desperate for services, and as a result, Patients also don’t get enough information on self-care, and finally, operations at the facility are disrupted by floods annually, making it difficult to seek and receive services at the facility.” says Francis Pala.
The residents also raised concerns over the maternity services at the facility, as many mothers are referred to other facilities, leading to delays in care and reimbursement from the government maternity program.
“The Social Health Authority maternity program faces challenges of disparities at the facility, and while other mothers don’t have valid identifications, which hinders their access to services, workforce capacity issues, and a lack of space as there is only one maternity bed, this leads to referrals to other facilities, which leads to delays in access to services we appeal with our county government to help us get the infrastructure and equipment required to attain quality services,” said Milca Oburu.
To enable effective service delivery at Kanyakwar Dispensary, the County Government of Kisumu should consider investing in compliance software to generate necessary reports automatically, improve funding at the facility, and conduct an audit to analyze data to refine ordering and reduce waste of public resources.
