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Do not go to unregistered health facilities, Kenyans warned
The public has been urged to ensure that any doctor or medical facility they visit is licensed.
What you need to know:
- Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council advises the public to ensure that any doctor or medical facility they visit is licensed.
- The Council has set up a toll-free number 20547 for the public to check the status of a facility or doctor treating them.
Kenyans have been warned against seeking medical care from unregistered and unlicensed health practitioners and facilities in the country.
The Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council (KMPDC) has issued a press statement advising the public to ensure that any doctor or medical facility they visit is licensed.
The Council has set up a toll-free number 20547 for the public to check the status of a facility or doctor treating them.
To verify the name of the facility and the doctor, the Council has instructed the public to send a short message to the number starting with P# followed by the name of the doctor or P# followed by the name of the facility to receive a response as to whether they are registered or licensed.
“The KMPDC has recently received reports of medical and dental services being offered in facilities that do not have the proper registration and licensing, including pharmacies and laboratories,” warns the Council's Chief Executive Officer, David Kariuki.
“The Council wishes to clarify that medical and dental services can only be provided in health facilities that are registered and licensed to operate in Kenya.”
He emphasised that stand-alone laboratories and pharmacies are registered and licensed under their respective regulatory frameworks for the specific purposes of diagnostic testing and dispensing of medicines.
“Invasive procedures, such as those involving the injection of medications, procedures requiring local anaesthesia, and procedures on teeth, are considered medical services and are required to be undertaken in health facilities and by practitioners who are registered and licensed by the Council,” Dr Kariuki says.
“The moment you send the name of the facility or the health practitioner to the short code and it does not appear, then they are not registered or licensed to work in the country,” he said.
For medical practitioners, the Council has registered 3,899 and licensed 3,197, and all the names appear in the system.
Section 22 (5) of the Medical Practitioners and Dentists Act (CAP 253) states that a person who uses the premises of a health institution whose premises are not licensed as a health institution commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding Sh10 million or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or to both.
“The Council is mandated by law to carry out inspections of all health institutions in Kenya. If a facility is found to be operating without the proper registration and licensing, the KMPDC will take enforcement action, which may include the closure of the facility,” Dr Kariuki said.
Earlier, the Kenya Health Professional Oversight Authority had given unregistered and unlicensed health practitioners and facilities until the end of November to comply or face closure on December 1.
Dr Jackson Kioko, the authority's chief executive officer, said providing services without a valid licence was against the ethical principles governing the health profession and posed a significant risk to the health and welfare of people seeking health care.
“We will not allow anyone without a licence or not registered with the Council to put Kenyans lives at risk. Anyone without a licence and who is not registered has only this month to comply. We will not be putting the lives of Kenyans at risk because of individual selfishness,” Dr Kioko said.
He urged the public to report any concerns about non-compliant facilities and practitioners so that action can be taken against them.
Recently, the Council deregistered Mr David Nyawade Onyango, a medical practitioner who had been practising in the country for the past 16 years, for allegedly practising as a doctor without proper registration.
It was alleged that Mr Nyawade was practising as a surgeon despite not having an undergraduate degree in medicine.
“This is to inform the general public that the above-pictured person going by the name of 'David Nyawade Onyango ' or 'David Onyango Nyawade' has been deregistered by the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentist Council and is hereby prohibited from practising as a medical doctor in the Republic of Kenya,” the public notice read.
