By Yusuf Obbo
Members of Parliament on the Parliamentary Health Committee have inspected Iganga Main Hospital, where they uncovered several challenges affecting service delivery and witnessed the arrest of two health officials for further investigation.
The hospital management, led by Medical Superintendent Dr Anne Amate, raised concerns including overcrowding, frequent power outages, ageing hospital buildings, inadequate health workers and a shortage of essential equipment such as an X-ray machine and hospital beds.
Dr Amate has asked the government to consider upgrading Nakavule Hospital to a referral facility and increasing its budget, given the large population it serves.
She said Iganga Main Hospital’s location along the highway connecting Uganda to Kenya means that many accident victims are referred to the facility, creating additional pressure on the available resources.
Dr Amate explained that local patients often have to compete for medicines with patients referred from other areas.
She revealed that the hospital receives more than 700 mothers every month for maternity services, in addition to about 1,458 accident referrals, figures she said are higher than the facility’s planned workload.
According to Dr Amate, the high number of patients is being handled by a relatively small team of health workers, putting further pressure on the hospital.
The Acting Hospital Administrator, Abubakar Waiswa, appealed to the government to increase the supply of medicines and provide more essential equipment to improve service delivery.
Waiswa also addressed concerns raised by MPs over allegations of extortion at the hospital, saying management has taken measures to discourage health workers from demanding money from patients.
He said warning posters have been placed across the hospital wards, while voice messages are also broadcast through loudspeakers to remind both staff and patients about the dangers of extortion.
However, Waiswa also raised concern over people he described as blockers and idlers who occupy the hospital compound, saying some have been arrested several times.
“We have warned our health workers against getting money from patients and asked patients to always report these cases,” Waiswa said.
The MPs also questioned hospital management over allegations that some health workers demand money from patients for services that are supposed to be provided at the facility.
During the inspection, the committee discovered medicines being stored at the hospital without proper documentation. Some of the medicines had records that did not clearly indicate their source or distribution.
Following the discovery, two officials — Masinde Patrick, the hospital pharmacist, and Kauma Sumaya, the Iganga Drug Inspector — were arrested and handed over to Police for further investigations.
The Deputy Chairperson of the Parliamentary Health Committee, Hope Nakazibwe, said the committee will do everything possible to ensure that the challenges affecting Iganga Main Hospital are addressed.
She said the inspection is intended to establish the actual situation at the facility and ensure that government resources, medicines and equipment are properly managed for the benefit of patients.
