Allow me to hijack the thread since the topic of hospitals for children has surfaced cause I simply have to share my experiences.

I would strongly recommend you avoid Nairobi Hospital and Gertrudes,Nairobi West at all costs.

About six months ago,I took my son to Gertrudes with stomach and vomiting problems. The young doctor sent us to the lab but the results were negative. What does the doctor do? She decides that he has a viral stomach and gives him loads of antibiotics and other drugs. I advised my son not to take the drugs and took him to a Pediatrician later that evening. It turned out he had an upset tummy. No drugs required.

More recently,I took him to Nairobi early in the morning with a bad cough. The doctor checked him out and came out with a bombshell that he was suffering from chronic asthma. He prescribed an inhaler,cough syrup (yes,one which is among the banned stuff). I questioned the doctor because he has never had a history of asthma but he refuses to budge. Again,I decided to seek a second opinion with the Pediatrician. It turns out the young man is as fit as a fiddle. He was faking the cough to avoid going to school cause he had not finished his maths homework. A bit of counselling and all was well.

After hearing numerous similar cases,I now have serious doubts about the calibre of doctors in our major hospitals.

reithi

@reithi - thanks for sharing that experience. I am a firm believer in always asking questions and though it may seem unfair,to always treat a young doctor as inexperienced prior to putting you kid's life in his hands. We have all seen or heard of the horror stories that result when we assume the doctor ALWAYS knows what they are doing. Most times these graduates are 'text book' practitioners when it comes to both diagnosis and prescription. Most do not think out of the box and rely largely on clinical diagnosis (symptoms) which lead to a standard prescription. BTW Reithi,for a viral infection (any) there is no treatment,except for the symptoms (which is why HIV is a big battle). Usually tho body fights them off on its own but needs peripheral support (fluids,nutrition,etc) to sustain the white cell battle. Antibiotics are for bacterial infections. With children there are two common viral infections esp from 6 months to abt 3 years - rota and adeno (both present vomiting,diarrhea and fever) and just require some support (if severe,even admission is needed and the child is put on a drip since it will NOT retain any fluids owing to the diarrhea and vomiting). Rota can be fatal if ignored.


An incident I recall at Gertrudes when I took our daughter there when she was abt 6 months old - she had conjuctivitis and the 'cadet' doctor prescribed Tetracycline without blinking - I felt it might be too harsh for such a young child and requested to see a superior - the superior changed the prescription to a more gentle antibiotic called garamycin. I could see the superior was going to chew off that doctor's ears.


Anyway,everybody - do lets not allow ourselves or our children to be guinea pigs that help these doctors gain experience - here is the thing,while we walk away with horror tales,they are left with experience on what not do do. Its the same with cars - when you take your car to a garage where some apprenctices are put to work on it (spanner boys) - they do not give a flying _uck whether they break stuff - thats how they learn. You conttibute to their learning and PAY for it. With kids you can never let this happen.

The problem with equality is that we desire that it be with those that have more than us rather that those that have less

@tom_boy - tetracycline is a grainy ointment - even adults get irritated by it. Garamycin comes in liquid drops. Very simple logic. And its curative capabilities are much higher per cc. Therefore instead of sticking shut an infants eyes with abt 2 cm of ointment - one drop does the work. Does that sound sensible? And the other thing is this - all we are advocating is for the newbies to be more diligent and change their approach and attitude to diagnisis and not rely entirely on textbooks as most do. This is true of lawyers,architects,etc. I think I have more experience with a child's illnesses as a parent for 10 years than a newbie doctor - dispute that! And we should not just sit back like zombies rather be involved in the process - just like with learning we do not leave schooling entirely to teachers but intervene from time to time before its too late. Question to Tom_boy - do YOU have kids?

The problem with equality is that we desire that it be with those that have more than us rather that those that have less

All these hospitals have these young inexperienced doctors so dont just banish the name of a whole health institution jusy coz one cadet messed you up.........for the kids,visit my grandma kule upcountry and you will not regret it!!!!

The chief value of money lies in the fact that one lives in a world in which it is overestimated.

@ tom_boy

With all due respect,its seems you are defending mediocrity. We are discussing health matters where wrong diagnosis can have serious consequences in some cases.

The hospitals are required to employ trained and experienced medical professionals. Thats why they are called health institutions,hospitals but employ inexperienced doctors to cut on cost. If the so called doctors can make such glaring mistakes,then one is better off visiting the quacks etc. Why go to Nairobi,Aga Khan,Gertrudes if they cannot get it right?

We all make mistakes but from personal experience and those of my friends,the casualty departments at these hospitals are constantly gambling with lives of children.

reithi