Physical security preparedness measures among level V and VI hospitals in Nairobi County, Kenya

Abstract

Health Care Institutions play an important role in maintaining life in the event of an emergency. This has contributed to the realization of the requirement to ascertain the physical security readiness status of these institutions as a critical element of national security. The study assessed the existing physical security systems in hospitals and how well they support preparedness of the physical security in hospitals in Level V and VI hospitals of Nairobi County in Kenya. The study was underpinned by the Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) and Resilience Theories. A convergent parallel design was used with structured questionnaires, observation checklists, and key informant interviews. The respondents were selected by using purposive sampling and stratified sampling, resulting in 160 health and safety officers,security personnel and hospital administration. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data. The findings were presented in tables, graphs, and verbatim for qualitative data. The results showed that both hospitals possessed physical security facilities such as access control systems, surveillance systems, perimeter fencing, visitor screening, patrol systems, and written security policies. The systems, however, did not work in the same way at Kenyatta National Hospital as compared to Mbagathi County Referral Hospital and had varying levels of functionality and consistency between the two hospitals. Kenyatta National Hospital had high operational functionality (95%) while Mbagathi County Referral Hospital had low operational functionality (55%). The study determined that there was physical security infrastructure in place, but that preparedness was adversely impacted by a lack of uniform training, lack of drill participation by non-security personnel, resource limitations, and poor inter-agency coordination. Inferential analysis indicated that the level of physical security measures had a significant influence on the level of preparedness outcomes, while organisational and training measures had a greater influence in determining the level of overall preparedness. In conclusion, preparedness of the hospital security should be considered from an infrastructural and organisational aspect. The study recommends that integrated training, improved surveillance systems, standardisation of security protocols, and formalisation of hospitals in Kenya's Critical National Infrastructures should be done.