Enormous emergencies blamed for mother’s death at Kawempe Hospital

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | An overwhelming number of emergencies at Kawempe Referral Hospital has been blamed for the death of Norah Agemo, a mother who lost her life, after a delayed operation by the facility last month.

Agemo was referred to Kawempe Hospital from the KCCA hospital in Kitebi upon detecting complications with her pregnancy. The Doctors at Kitebi Hospital had told her that her unborn baby seemed too weak to be delivered normally. At Kawempe, she was operated and together with her baby, discharged five days later. But after three days, she returned to the facility with excessive stomach pain.

According to her husband Hassan Esiat, although she was examined and recommended for the second operation, Agemo was ignored for a number of days, leading to excessive bleeding and emission of pus from her surgical wound. During the time, she was taking no food on the advice of the medical team, in the anticipation of the second operation.

She reportedly died on December 18, after enduring two additional operations from a nearby private health facility, where he ran to after three days of being bounced at Kawempe. Esiat believes that Agemo’s life would have been saved if the medical team at Kawempe National Referral Hospital had treated her case as an emergency. He accused them of medical negligence.

He said that the doctors at the private facility told him that the doctors who conducted the initial operation had made a mess which made it impossible to save his wife even after two more operations.

But Dr Nehemiah Katusiime, the Executive Director of Kawempe National Referral Hospital says that an internal investigation shows that they could not conduct the surgery in time due to the overwhelming number of emergencies that kept coming and were worse than the mother.

Katusiime, a Consultant Gynaecologist and Obstetrician said Agemo’s complications came as a result of prolonged labour which led to the development of pus in her womb.

He said Agemo’s complication isn’t rare and another operation could have saved. However, he adds, the events after they escaped from Kawempe Hospital might have just worsened her situation since doctors at the private facility worked with no file of her medical history or previous interventions.

Katusiime says that Kawempe Hospital is challenged when it comes to human resource since on a daily basis they conduct an average of 20 caesarian section operations, in addition to other gynaecological emergencies and elective surgeries.

The facility has been working with only four anesthesiologists who operate in six theatres. Sometimes, a single anesthesiologist has to run between theatres to ensure operations go on safely.

For now, he says statements have been recorded by the teams that were on duty for the three days that Agemo was in hospital and are awaiting a response from the Minister of Health, on the basis of a report detailing events of the day which was presented to the minister two days ago.

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