The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Fort Portal, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The lack of specialists at Fort Portal Regional Referral Hospital is denying the population access to services.
The facility which serves the districts of Kabarole, Bunyangabu, Kyegegwa, Kyenjojo, Kamwenge and Ntoroko, has 11 specialists out of the required 26.
Alex Adaku, the hospital director says that the facility has failed to meet both the demand and provide expert interpretation of data. Adaku says that the hospital has on several occasions referred patients whose conditions require specialized treatment to other health facilities.
However, many of the patients referred to those facilities with the services often fail to meet the cost of transport, treatment and get back home.
According to Adaku, the facility lacks radiologists, pathologists, surgeons, cardiologists, neurologists and obstetricians among others. He adds that the hospital needs better equipment to replace the existing old, worn-out machines, and more radiographers to handle the patient numbers from across the region.
With an average of 100 patients in need of radiography services each day, the hospital has only one radiographer, whose capacity to deal with the demand is overstretched leading to congestion.
According to Adaku, pleas to have better machines and specialists have so far yielded no fruit.
Albert Ahebwa, a resident of Fort Portal city says that x-ray services are needed at the hospital to save the patients from unnecessary costs.
The State Minister for Health in charge of General Duties, Hanifa Kawooya says that the government is planning to procure CT scans for all regional referral and general hospitals in the next financial year.
On the shortage of specialists in hospitals, the minister attributed the problem to the inadequate pay of health workers which has made it difficult to hire specialists locally.
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