The Ministry of Health has directed all health facilities to prioritise treating patients before undertaking any administrative or insurance-related procedures, citing gaps in compliance with existing guidelines.

In a circular issued on March 27, the ministry said some facilities were still not consistently implementing a 2020 directive requiring clinical triage before any administrative processes or insurance verification.

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"It has come to the attention of the Ministry of Health that compliance with this directive has not been consistently upheld across all health facilities,” the Minister of Health Dr Sabin Nsanzimana wrote in a letter to all medical facilities in the country.

In the letter seen by The New Times, the minister emphasised that no patient should, under any circumstances, be delayed, denied, or redirected at the point of care due to pending administrative or insurance-related clearance.

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"All health facilities must attend to the patient clinically before any administrative or insurance-related procedure,” Nsanzimana wrote.

This follows an order by President Paul Kagame to follow up on a case of a pregnant woman, who died in 2020 after she was sent back home due to issues with her medical insurance. During the March 23 consultative meeting with central and local government leaders in Bugesera District, the President criticise medical negligence and malpractice that put the lives of patients at risk.

The minister of health has said facility leaders have been tasked with ensuring implementation and monitoring adherence to the directive.

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"Facility leadership bears direct responsibility for implementation and monitoring of this protocol,” the minister noted.

He warned that failure to comply with the directive, whether or not a clinical adverse outcome has occurred, will result in institutional accountability.

"Leaders are therefore requested to take immediate measures to reinforce adherence and ensure sustained compliance.”

The directive applies to all public and private health facilities, including referral hospitals, provincial and district hospitals, health centres and health posts across the country.