NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 14 – The Ministry of Health will review the 39 billion Medical Equipment Service (MES) project once the current contract lapses.
Once approved, Principal Secretary nominee for Medical Services Peter Tum told MPs that the MES project needed to re-structured to serve the interest of public hospitals.
A Senate report indicated that the MES project flooded hospitals with highly-priced equipment which failed to improve the health standards in counties as promised.
“I am looking into agreement and am saying that in the new contract we need to undertake a complete review because we are getting into a position where we can look at the project afresh and twik it to meet the requirement of the Kenya Kwanza manifesto,” Tum said.
With health being a devolved function, the nominee promised to engage the county bosses in consoltations and dialogue.
He was speaking during vetting before the National Assembly committee chaired by Endebess MP Robert Pukose.
In February, The Council of Governors endorsed the extension of controversial Managed Equipment Services for an additional period of three years ahead of the anticipated completion of the initial 7-year contract period.
The Council announced its decision to extend the contracts for all the 47 counties on Friday citing consensus with the national Ministry of Health (MoH) on the need to review budgetary allocations.
“In considering the three options, the council acknowledges the impact of the equipment on health service delivery to the people and resolved to extend the contract for additional three years,” CoG Health Committee Chairperson Anyang’ Nyong’o said.
“It has been recommended the CoG jointly with MoH to draft the addendum to the contracts and the Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry and county governments,” Nyong’o said.
The Sh63 billion project shrouded in secrecy was marred with claims of graft with some counties claiming some of the equipment had broken down even before they were commissioned due to lack of appropriate housing units in county-run hospitals.
County governments embarked on a process to seek an expert opinion of the continued engagement of county-run hospitals in the national government-initiated project on December 20 saying the contracts were expected to come to and end between December 2022 and May 2023.
A MES review committee proposed a three-year extension in a report considered by the Council of Governors during a full council meeting at on December 20, 2021.
In February 2015, the Ministry of Health awarded leasing agreements for the provision of specialized medical equipment to counties worth Sh63 billion.
According to the Ministry of Health, the type of equipment prioritized under the MES project was informed by a Needs Assessment conducted in March 2014.
In 2020, the Senate committee probing the MES project found that Lands Principal Secretary Nicholas Muraguri who served as the Health Principal Secretary between 2015 and 2017 withheld the contracts and other supporting documents from former Health Secretary Cleopa Mailu on grounds that they were “secret”.
At the same time, Tum has promised a rigorous restructuring of reforms in the health sector especially in the public hospitals.
He noted that once approved he will great consideration of boost human resource in hospitals to avert the crisis in public hospitals.
“The problem is our system of provision of health services in public health facilities. The issue that is wanting is that we have not taken into consideration the personnel of health services as provided for in health standards,” said Tum.
Also, on his radar once approved will be reforming of the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority to meet the standards and respond to the medical purchases in tandem with the needs of the 47 devolved units.
“Standards have not been upheld and therefore there is a need for agenda reform requirement. Its high time we reform KEMSA to respond to commodity disruptions purchases so that we put it in a manner that is required,” assured the Principal Secretary for Medical Services.
Tum however warned that access to health care in public hospitals for the common mwananchi will be untenable if the financing of the sector through the National Hospital Insurance Fund will not be upheld.
“We are looking into financing through the NHIF and as Kenya Kwanza Alliance we will leverage on that to enable our people get services in hospitals,” the nominee said.
This following the narrative raised by MPs that poor Kenyans who can afford services in private hospitals are left to suffer due to negligence in public hospitals.
Death cases which have attracted probes have been blamed on caregivers who are grossly negligent, which is an indictment of bad state of our public hospitals.
Tum served as PS in the Ministry of Health before being appointed by former President Uhuru Kenyatta to his current position as the PS State Department for Labour in the ministry of Labour and Social Protection on March 1, 2019.
Tum previously served as the Kenya Medical Training College CEO and holds a Post- Graduate Diploma in Medical Electronics from the University of London.
