Let us address long waiting periods in Kenya's hospitals

Long waiting time before patients see a specialist, receive consultation and access the associated procedures are now endemic in our hospitals.

Numerous detrimental factors come into play when waiting lists become very long including the additional administrative support required as well as increased mortality and morbidity rates.

In an attempt to address multiple related factors, many hospitals have prepared and displayed Patient Service Charters.

These serve as a tool to communicate with those working or seeking treatment in the hospital

The charters do a number of things including: Promoting the patient’s well being and the satisfaction of their health needs, respecting their physical, psychological and social integrity; informing patients of services available, time taken, costs and the standards of care they should expect.

They also address rights, as enshrined in the Constitution, and responsibilities with regard to access, safety, respect, communication, participation, privacy and comment.

Part of the pledge to put patients at the centre of everything done involves making sure that diagnosis and treatment commences as soon as possible and at a time that is convenient to the patient.

However, despite all these stated intentions, patients still have to deal with the reality of constrained systems that end up with long waiting hours, with some losing their lives even before they have been seen.

However, all is not lost as research shows there is a management model that can help to address these challenges.

Known as Lean, this efficiency model gives medics more options other than the current - either admit a patient to the emergency department, or send them home - which are often made by a junior hospital doctor.

Because the system is consultant-based, more options can be explored based on the medical need of the patient.

Ultimately, designing care around the patient means allocating a point-scoring system to patients and identifying which patients need which services, and how quickly they need them.

Let us try this.