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Luwero, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Luwero District Administration has banned medical trainees from handling and administering treatment to patients without the presence of supervisors at health centers.
Every year Luwero district receives over 200 medical students from different institutions to conduct training at health center IIIs, IVs, and Luwero hospital. This year the program resumed on 2nd January 2024 for both medical students and other internees in local governments.
However, reports have emerged that several health workers tend to be absent and leave the patients to be attended to by trainees who are not yet skilled.
According to the notice dated 27th December,2023 issued by Bernard Okello the Luwero District Human Resource Officer on behalf of the Chief Administrative Officer, the complaint has been received by the administration and the practice is unacceptable.
Okello said that the trainees are prohibited from handling or administering treatment to patients at any health center without the presence and guidance of respective supervisors.
Okello added that they have also got reports that trainees extort or are being used by health workers to extort money from the patients which is illegal.
Okello warned that any trainee found handling patients without a supervisor, extorting money, and stealing government drugs would be expelled from the program before he is handed over to the Police to face criminal charges.
He also asked the residents to report the trainees involved in the misconduct to the District Health Officer for immediate action.
Dr Innocent Nkonwa the Luwero District Health Officer says that the trainees are supposed to abide by medical ethics which they are taught and any who fails to abide by them will be expelled.
“We shall not tolerate any student who is non-compliant to the ethics because this may result in serious cases for example if they misdiagnose the patient. We are always reminding them about the ethics and they should abide by them as medical students” Nkonwa said.
The notice was copied to the LCV Chairperson, Resident District Commissioner, and heads of department.
In 2021, Luwero district health department installed fingerprint time and attendance devices across government health centers in a move aimed at fighting rampant absenteeism.
The district also threatened to suspend the salaries for the health workers staff who are found to have absconded from work for over 30 days without notifying their supervisors which breaches sections of Uganda Public Service Standing Orders.
However, to date, absenteeism has persisted in the health centers and now the health workers leave most workers to trainees as they attend to side jobs.
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Medical training
The health institutions to which the students belong are expected to organise for attachment iof students:
They should commit a qualified member of staff at the facility to supervise the attachment
They should pay a visit to the attachment site
Should have a clear form of assessment of students while at the facility
In other words
A serious institution would not send students to facilities where supervisors of students on attachment abscond from duty
The In charge of the health facility should not allow students who have no identified supervisor to train in the facility; they are not registered to practice
There should be enough facilitation from the training institution to ensure that student training does not become a burden on the Host facility: how do you control use if medicines and supplies by students, when absent from station?
Indeed this is a clear indication that what is described in the curriculum is not adhered to by some Institutions
The consumers of the product are disturbed by such laxity