Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has said he will table the Quality Healthcare and Patient Safety Bill, 2025, at the cabinet next week.

The proposed bill aims to enhance the quality of healthcare services and ensure patient safety by establishing a regulatory framework for healthcare facilities and providers.

Through the bill, the government also plans to create a quality healthcare and patient safety authority, which will be responsible for registration, licensing, and accreditation of health facilities as well as setting and enforcing standards for quality healthcare.

Duale, who was speaking in Kisumu during the roll out of Taifacare and the Social Health Authority, said that his former colleagues in parliament had chickened out from supporting the bill because of threats from cartels in the health sector.

The CS reiterated his commitment to restoring public trust in the health system, noting that moving forward, the boss in any hospital is the patient and he or she must be treated like that.

“I did public participation, it is over. I will take it to the cabinet, then the committee. And that clause that is very important to the people and patients, even if rejected by the parliament, I will talk to President William Ruto to use his veto powers to raise two-thirds of votes for it,” he said.

He said, once he is done with the cabinet, he will then table it before the health committee of the national assembly.

He also emphasised the government’s commitment to making healthcare equitable, affordable, and transparent for all Kenyans.

“With Taifa Care, citizens are no longer left behind due to inability to pay. The introduction of the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF), Primary Health Care Fund, Emergency, Chronic and Critical Illness Fund, and the Digital Health Infrastructure all work together to ensure effective service coverage,’’ the CS said.

He added: “As we move forward with UHC, we are focusing on four essential areas: digital health transformation, access to essential medicines, investment in healthcare workers, and fair, sustainable health financing.

The CS said Kisumu County will receive a total of 1,020 tablets and 220 desktops, with 597,634 residents against a population of 1,155,574 people already registered in SHA. 

He noted that in Kisumu County, a total of 200,337 people had done means testing, with an average contribution coming to Sh523 billion.

“In Kisumu County, of the 397 facilities, 192 of them are transacting with SHA, with 175,700 hospital visits recorded. A total of Sh3.7 billion worth of claims has been approved to date, with Kisumu County having benefited from a total of Sh165 million under the primary healthcare component,” he added.

Health PS Ouma Oluga said the transition from NHIF to SHA is more than a structural reform, terming it a complete redesign of health financing in the country.

He argued that the digital health authority, which powers the technological backbone of the new system, underscores the central role of digitization in enabling efficiency, accountability, and service equity.

“This helps us move patients’ details from one place to another. If you come for a scan in Kisumu and tomorrow you are admitted in Nairobi, we want you to save money, so you do not have to repeat the CT scan because we already have the report,” added Dr Oluga.