Deserted KNH turns into centre for few helpless critical patients

An elderly woman lies on a slab near Information Center at Kenyatta National Hospital on March 03,2024 where she had gone to seek treatment. Doctors' strike has subjected patients to extreme suffering. [Denish Ochieng, Standard]

On the sixth floor of Kenyatta National Hospital, Isaac Kariuki lies on his bed along the corridor. He cannot walk or sit. He has a cracked spine. He fell in February, was brought at KNH and that corridor has been his home ever since.

He is among patients in need of critical care at the hospital after patients with less serious ailments were transferred to other hospitals due to the ongoing doctors' strike.

He says he has been left to spend his sick days along the corridors because nurses believe he may be suicidal and could jump down through the window and kill himself if left in a ward. He says that is bad sarcasm because he cannot walk.