The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Luwero, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Luwero district chairman Erastus Kibirango has discovered that the provision of services in Luwero hospital has been compromised by late coming, absenteeism and lack of medical supplies.
Luwero hospital was recently upgraded from a health center IV as one of the measures to improve health service delivery. As such, the government also increased Primary Health Care and Development Fund allocations to the facility.
However, there is still a public outcry that little has changed even after it was elevated to hospital status. It’s against this background that district chairman Erastus Kibirango, the district speaker Abdul Mazinga, and finance secretary Isaac Wampamba disguised as patients to investigate the status of service delivery at the facility.
Clad in hooded jackets and face masks, the three accessed the facility in a private car and without any security check, they sat in the waiting area from 9:30pm on Wednesday to 3am on Thursday morning. During this entire time, they received no attention from the health workers on duty, until they introduced themselves.
Kibirango explains that many of the health workers were not on duty by the time he arrived, and a number of them never showed up, and those who did, arrived much later than the official reporting time. He added that the security laxity at the main gate is putting the lives of patients at risk.
Kibirango adds that they were surprised to see a medical worker referring a patient to a private hospital because she had no surgical gloves to operate on her. On top of this, the facility is also struggling with persistent power blackouts despite the provision of standby generators and solar energy.
Dr Edward Makubuya, a medical officer at Luwero hospital told Kibirango that the facility can only do minor operations because they do not have appropriate equipment for the theatre. Some of the patients found in the wards also complained of rampant drug stockouts and unreliable power supply.
Isaac Wampamba, the Luwero district finance secretary said they will need to review budget allocations to the hospital because there is no significant improvement in the provision of services despite an increase in its budget.
The Ministry of Health increased the budget for drugs for Luwero hospital from 198 million to 426 million Shillings in the financial year 2021/22, to ensure that medicines match the increasing number of patients at the facility. The district will also receive 300 million Shillings under the Result Based Financing Programme among other grants.
Abdul Mazinga, the Luwero district speaker observes that there has to be a dramatic turnaround to address the issues that affect the hospital.
Dr Saudah Namubiru, the acting medical superintendent of Luwero hospital walked away without giving attention to the leaders, saying she had an urgent meeting with the Resident District Commissioner. Namubiru who arrived at around 9 am on Thursday morning also declined to speak to the media and blocked other staff from addressing them on issues discovered by the leaders.
Kibirango has since resolved to call a district executive meeting to address the issues before the Chief Administrative Officer and ask her to take disciplinary action against the medical superintendent whom he described as incompetent.
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