A Parliamentary Committee on Health chaired by Dr. Michael Bukenya, MP Bukuya district has reported that patients are avoiding government health facilities in Gomba and Butambala Districts due to unqualified staff and lack of functional medical equipment.
Dr Bukenya, who is a healthcare practitioner, specialising as a Gynaecologist and Obstetrician says his team deployed 19th August 2017 to various health centers discovered that shortage of drugs in government hospitals has affected service delivery in the two districts.
Hon Helen Kahunde, the Vice Chairperson of the Committee on Health said: “We have moved to various health centres and found that most of them lack essential drugs to give to patients as first aid,”
Hon Kahunde explained that this had resulted in a reduction of the number of patients visiting these government hospitals.
“When we visited Ngandu Health Centre III, we barely found any patients and the Maternity Ward was also deserted,” she added, cautioning medical workers to maintain proper hygiene in the health facilities so as to encourage the communities to seek their services.
Years back, low income citizens surged into Uganda’s public health system when government abolished patient fees.
Increasingly, African countries are adopting similar policies, and experts say that many more people are getting care as a result. However, experts warn that Uganda’s experience illustrates the limits of that care when a system is poorly managed and lacks the resources to deliver decent services.
The Acting Medical Superintendent of Gombe Hospital, Dr. Samuel Sekamatte, blamed the lack of medicine to the delayed supply by the National Medical Stores (NMS).
According to sources, he also said that NMS supplied less medicine than what is requisitioned.
At Ngandu Health Center III, Parliament press reports that MPs found only a Nurse and a Laboratory Attendant out of the eight staff required for the facility.
“The legislators discovered a non-functioning X-ray machine and unqualified staff in Gombe Hospital, while Madu Health Centre IV in Gomba district, had a non-functional theatre.”
Additional reporting by Parliament Press.
