Governor Njuki Cracks Down on Rogue Doctors Diverting Patients to Private Clinics

By Andrew Mbuva

Tharaka Nithi Governor Muthomi Njuki has sounded the alarm over a growing practice by some county doctors who are allegedly neglecting their duties in public hospitals while referring patients to private facilities under the pretext that county health services are substandard.

Njuki, who also chairs the Council of Governors’ Health Committee, said a cartel of doctors has been using government facilities to build a database of patients before diverting them to their privately owned clinics. 

In some instances, he noted, patients are charged twice as doctors exploit them for profit while also seeking payments from the Social Health Authority (SHA).

The governor made the revelations during an impromptu inspection tour of Chuka Level 5 Hospital, where he discovered several doctors who were supposed to be on duty were absent.

“It is unacceptable that patients are shuttled between public and private facilities, only to find the same doctors they were supposed to see at government hospitals. This is exploitation, and it must stop,” he said.

Governor Njuki directed the County Executive Committee Member for Health to issue a circular warning doctors that absenteeism will attract serious consequences. 

He further proposed the creation of an anonymous feedback mechanism to allow patients to report cases where they are irregularly referred to private clinics.

The governor stressed that both the national and county governments have made massive investments in the health sector and vowed not to allow rogue medics to undermine those efforts.

At the same time, Njuki called on the doctors’ union to urgently intervene, warning that counties will not hesitate to take stern disciplinary action against practitioners who flout public service protocols.