The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Mbale, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Health workers at Budwale Health Centre III in Mbale district have deserted the facility over failure to travel to work.
Since the ban on both public and private transport in a bid to stop the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID -19), the health facility has not been having health workers. According to patients who URN found at the facility, the health workers have not worked for some time now.
When URN visited the Health Centre, only 1 health worker who is a mid-wife out of the 14 health workers recruited was at the Health centre. He told our reporter that he has been overwhelmed with too many patients who are visiting the health centre and that the rest of the health workers trek long distances to get to the facility which explains why they haven’t made it to the health centre because of lack of transport means.
The patients say the health worker keeps on sending them back home telling them to come back the next day.
Doreen Mubajje, who had come to immunize her baby said she was told to go back home till Tuesday next week.
Bakali Wazizi, a bodaboda rider said he lost his twins on Friday because of the absence of health workers at the facility. He says when his wife started experiencing labour pains, he went to the health centre when there was no one to help and he could not ride his motorcycle with the wife to Mbale hospital because police had stopped him before asking for a movement permit.
David Gidudu, the Chairperson of the Health Centre Management Committee revealed to our reporter that health workers have not been on duty for the past 2 weeks and that when he tried to contact them they told him that they had no means of transport to reach them to the health centre.
Abdul Adir Kirya, a resident of Budwale says that patients keep coming to the facility to access health services but they are always stranded when they don’t find health workers.
Jonathan Wangisi, the Mbale District Health Officer said he wasn’t aware health workers were not at the health facility but promised to handle the issue urgently.
He, however, put the problem to police officers who implementing the presidential directives who are stopping the health workers from using vehicles to get to the health centres.
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