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Introduction

You can now easily verify whether a health facility, a doctor or community oral health officer attending to you has been licensed to operate through an SMS short code.

The Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council (KMPDC) has introduced 20547 as the short code through which the public can verify the status of a medical practitioner.

“KMPDC has introduced an SMS short code, 20547, for verifying the licensure status of health facilities, medical/dental practitioners and community oral health officers,” the Council said through their social media handle.

To verify the status of a practitioner

Send an SMS to the short code 20547 in the format P# followed by full name of practitioner or P# followed by registration number of the practitioner.

To verify the licensure of a health facility

Send an SMS to 20547 in the format H# followed by full name of facility or H# followed by registration number of the facility.

In 2023, The Kenya Health Professions Oversight Authority warned of a countrywide crackdown to weed out health professionals working without a valid practicing license.

Unregistered health professionals in the country were given until March 31 to acquire the license or have have disciplinary measures initiated against them.

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In a notice in January, the authority called on all unregulated health professionals to apply for registration and license to practice in the country.

"It is now notified to the general public and potential employers that no health professional will be eligible to practice in the country whose name is not included in the respective professional registers and that he or she does not have a valid practice license,” KHPOA CEO Jackson Kioko said.

Kioko said the authority has been tasked with ensuring hospitals, health centres and dispensaries, especially in the public sector, are prepared for the attainment of UHC.

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In Summary

• To verify status of a practitioner, send an SMS to 20547 in the format P# followed by full name of practitioner or P# followed by registration number of the practitioner.

• To verify the licensure of a health facility, send an SMS to 20547 in the format H# followed by full name of facility or H# followed by registration number of the facility.

Credits: The Star