The government is working on a healthcare bill which is aimed at enhancing the quality of medical services and ensuring patient safety in all health facilities nationwide.
Once it sails through, the Quality Healthcare and Patient Safety 2025 Bill, currently at the public participation stage, will require all hospitals, clinics and other health institutions, both public and private, to strictly comply with set standards regarding infrastructure, staffing, and provision of healthcare services.
Public Health Principal Secretary Mary Muthoni has underscored the urgency of such legislation, citing widespread concerns over unregulated and unsafe health services in the country.
“For far too long, patients have been exposed to unsafe conditions, treated in poorly constructed buildings and sometimes by unqualified professionals,” she said, adding that the bill is a crucial step toward restoring dignity and safety in our healthcare system.
Speaking during a public participation in Murang’a on Tuesday, the PS noted that the proposed law would establish the Quality Health Care and Patient Safety Authority that would be responsible for enforcing healthcare quality standards.
The authority would be tasked with registering, licensing, and accrediting health facilities, regulating their conduct, inspecting them for compliance, and undertaking regular monitoring and evaluation to ensure that all providers uphold the required standards, she added.
“The authority will also be doing ratings of the health facilities, thus ensuring competition among the hospitals in an effort to provide the best services,” she remarked.
PS Muthoni emphasised that the authority would not only monitor compliance but also take decisive action when the health facilities fall short.
“The authority will have the power to revoke the accreditation of any health facility that fails to meet the quality healthcare standards or fails to correct identified non-conformities within the stipulated timelines,” Muthoni stated.
She further noted that the proposed reforms were meant to protect patients and promote accountability across the health sector, saying negligence of patients would be a thing of the past.
“The role of the authority will be to ensure that no health facility operates outside the bounds of the law. It will act in the best interest of the patient,” she remarked.
The PS also called on the public and healthcare stakeholders to actively contribute during the ongoing public participation process.
“We want Kenyans to understand what this bill means and to help shape it. Quality healthcare is a right, not a privilege, and this legislation is one way of making that right a reality,” Muthoni added.
Following the public input phase, the Ministry of Health will review all submissions before the bill is tabled in Parliament.
If passed, it is expected to revolutionize the country’s healthcare system by enforcing consistent standards, improving service delivery, and ensuring patient safety in every corner of the nation.
Muthoni underscored that the Bill is a key component of legislative reforms aimed at strengthening universal health coverage.
By Bernard Munyao
