Audit finds Kenyatta National Hospital emergency unit short of 16 ventilators

The Accident and Emergency Department at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) in Nairobi is short of 16 ventilators and 12 advanced intensive care unit beds, according to the Auditor-General's report on the hospital for the year ended 30 June 2025, The Star reported on 20 October 2026. The newspaper describes KNH as the country's largest referral facility.

The audit found shortages ranging from 20 per cent to 100 per cent of the department's operational requirements. The report, tabled in Parliament, is listed by the Parliament library as issued on 11 February 2026.

Besides the ventilators, the department lacks 15 cardiac monitors, 16 suction machines, 10 crash carts and 20 procedure trolleys. It is also short of 10 infusion pumps, 30 syringe pumps, three point-of-care ultrasound machines and four video laryngoscopes.

The audit said automated defibrillators and cardiac monitors in the department were outdated or had exceeded their expected useful life. Eight infusion pumps worked but could not be used because the hospital lacked the required giving sets.

The hospital's statement of financial position values its property, plant and equipment at KSh 12.72 billion. The audit did not establish whether KNH failed to respond to a specific mass-casualty incident.

KNH Chief Executive Officer Dr Richard Lesiyampe gave a different picture. He said the hospital now has 32 fully equipped theatres, up from 12 four years ago, and that emergency surgeries are done in under 24 hours.

"We have reduced waiting time for surgeries," Lesiyampe said, as quoted by The Star. He also said: "We have a machine that manages 150 to 200 patients daily." He cited two CT scanners and advanced cancer management equipment among the hospital's assets.