Grief and Loss

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Nairobi Parenting Clinic: Beyond Awareness: Building a Mental Health System ...

Nairobi Parenting Clinic: Beyond Awareness: Building a Mental Health System ...: On October 10th this year, Kenya joined the world in commemorating World Mental Health Day. Across the country, there were various sponsored...

Beyond Awareness: Building a Mental Health System That Works for Every Kenyan By Dr. Catherine Syengo Mutisya, Consultant Psychiatrist

On October 10th this year, Kenya joined the world in commemorating World Mental Health Day. Across the country, there were various sponsored walks, different social media platforms abuzz with pictures and clips highlighting the day and heightened print and television media coverage and discussions. The campaign focusing on the urgent need to support the mental health and psychosocial needs of people affected by humanitarian emergencies resonated deeply. But as a psychiatrist working on the frontlines, I must ask what happens after the banners come down? We have made progress in reducing stigma resulting in more Kenyans now willing to talk about depression, anxiety, and trauma. But awareness without access is a hollow victory. Take for instance, many counties, have very few mental health clinicians, no psychologists and also lack a specialised mental health unit in the background of chronic ongoing endless doctors strikes. For the last four months, patients from Kiambu County have continued to desperately look for mental health services in other counties due to the ongoing doctors strike. The situation got worse when recently the Nairobi county also joined the doctors strike, This, results into extreme long waiting time at Mathari National Teaching & Referral hospital (MNTRH) resulting into frustrated and extremely burnt out patients and doctors who have to handle the long waiting hours. Even in counties where Mental health clinics are available, they are avaunderfunded, understaffed, and often treated as an afterthought in public health planning to the extend that attempts to refer patients from MNTRH to the counties is met with extreme resistance by the patient and their relatives

In my opinion, our mental health infrastructure is fragile. MNTRH remains overwhelmed by huge numbers in the psychiatry outpatient clinics, overstretched bed capacity with overcrowding because most ccounty hospitals lack trained personnel and specialised mental health units. Medication stockouts are also very common in the counties and patients often say that the drugs prescribed at MNTRH which often work for them are unavailable in other counties. And while private care exists, it is priced far beyond the reach of most Kenyans who pay out of the pocket because SHA isn’t covering outpatient care for all and private medical covers are out of reach by most Kenyans. We therefore need a system that doesn’t just recognize mental illness but treats it with urgency, dignity, and equity. In my practice, I am also seeing more young people than ever before. College students battling substance use disorders, gambling and other mental health conditions. Teenagers who have been brought for assessment after self-harm and some with suicidal thoughts resulting into their parents being summoned to pick them from their school and take them for treatment. Social media appears to have amplified both connection and comparison, leaving many feeling inadequate and isolated. This therefore calls for further investments in school and college based mental health programs in addition to training teachers and lecturers to spot early signs, and create safe spaces for youth to speak up. We also need to Integrate mental health into primary care resulting into every health centre being equipped to screen and support basic mental health needs. More psychiatrists, psychologists, counsellors, and psychiatric nurses are needed in every county. Community outreach should also be funded and supported. And because Mental health isn’t just clinical but also influenced by the culture, we must engage elders, faith leaders, and local influencers and no Kenyan should be denied care due to poverty, gender, or geography. My call to action is therefore that World Mental Health Day must be more than just a moment but more of a movement. As psychiatrists, we will continue to advocate. But we need policymakers, educators, and citizens to join us because Mental health is not a luxury but a right to be enjoyed by all Kenyans The writer is a distinguished holder of MBChB, MMed Psychiatry and a licenced Medical Specialist

Professor Obel remembered for his groundbreaking medical research KTN ...

KMPDC defines professional misconduct as behaviour by a medical or dental practitioner that violates medical ethics, professional standards, or patient safety.

IT IS ANOTHER CUSTOMER WEEK On 16th September 2025, the readers of The Guradian were shocked to learn that the United Kingdom Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) had made a ruling that “a doctor who left a patient midway through an operation to have sex with a nurse is at very low risk of repeating his serious misconduct” The Guardian, Mon 15 Sep 2025 19.44 BSTLast modified on Tue 16 Sep 2025 04.37 BST. According to the print media, “Dr Suhail Anjum, 44, and the unnamed nurse were caught in a “compromising position” by a colleague who walked in on the pair at Tameside hospital. The consultant anaesthetist had asked another nursing colleague to monitor the male patient, who was under general anaesthetic, so he could go to the bathroom.”

In the Kenyan set up how would such a case be handled? The Kenya Medical Practitioners & Dentists Council (KMPDC) is the regulatory body in Kenya for medical and dental practitioners. It handles complaints of professional misconduct including medical negligence, patient abandonment and failure to give care, etc. Its Disciplinary & Ethics Committee is empowered to conduct inquiries into such complaints. It can admonish, suspend, or take other disciplinary action. KMPDC defines professional misconduct as behaviour by a medical or dental practitioner that violates medical ethics, professional standards, or patient safety. Common categories include: Negligence, failing to attend to a patient under care, leaving a patient unattended during a procedure, failure to provide timely or appropriate treatment, breach of Ethics / Professional Boundaries, sexual relations with patients or staff within the clinical setting, harassment or inappropriate conduct in professional spaces, incompetence or recklessness, performing procedures without necessary skill or qualifications, practicing outside the scope of license, dishonesty or fraud, forging medical records, issuing false medical reports, or misrepresenting qualifications, substance abuse / impairment, practicing while intoxicated or impaired by drugs/alcohol, criminal Conduct, acts such as assault, theft, corruption, or other crimes that bring the profession into disrepute. According to Kenyan Standards (based on KMPDC practice, Serious Misconduct includes such acts as leaving a patient under anaesthetic and shifting to engage in conduct unrelated to medical care, especially sexual activity. This would almost certainly be classified as gross / serious misconduct. It involves abandoning duty of care, violation of medical ethics, putting a patient at risk (even if no harm resulted), and possibly breach of trust. A complaint would be filed, then the Disciplinary & Ethics Committee would investigate, possibly hold a hearing. The doctor would have rights to respond. Evidence would be gathered. KMPDC would enforce sanctions such as admonishment, suspension, revocation of license, or other sanctions depending on how severe, whether there was harm, whether it was a one-off or patterned behaviour, the doctor’s attitude and remorse, etc. The disciplinary body may consider whether the doctor is likely to repeat such misconduct—this depends on factors like previous disciplinary history, expressions / proof of remorse, corrective action, risk mitigation, etc. If found “low risk,” that might reduce severity of punishment, but not likely eliminate sanctions given the seriousness. Public Confidence Consideration even if the risk of repetition is judged low, affects trustworthiness of the medical profession; sometimes public confidence demands stronger sanctions than those needed strictly for risk. It is therefore clear that KMPDC would be more stringent on a case as listed above especially based on trustworthiness of a medical professional The likely Sanctions include; reprimand, a formal warning and corrective action, paying fines or compensating a harmed patient, restrictions such as supervision, mandatory training, suspension of license, temporary removal from practice until the doctor meets conditions for reinstatement. Deregistration and in some most serious cases permanent removal from the register of practitioners may also be enforced. Dr. Catherine Syengo Mutisya (MBChB,Mmed) is a Consultant Psychiatrist with over 25 years of medical practice experience

Part of the Keynote Speech delivered by Dr Catherine Syengo Mutisya

Dr. Catherine Syengo Mutisya discusses Dementia, Causes, Prognosis, Memo...