Janet Museveni raps health workers over mishandling patients

The Minister of Education, Ms Janet Museveni has warned medical workers against mishandling patients while at work.
She said as government, they are increasingly receiving reports that health workers mishandle patients at wards yet this is against their code of ethics.
“Medics are rude. They do not care about patients, expectant mothers. Even when they are called to help, they continue doing their own things, leaving me wondering what happens to the good demonstrations they exhibit at nursing schools during training,” She said.

Ms Museveni made the remarks during her familiarization tour of Masaka School of Comprehensive Nursing on Tuesday.
The First Lady’s visits to tertiary intuitions are intended at check the progress of the Skilling Uganda programme in various technical, business and vocational institutions across the country.
“While at Jinja School of Nursing and Midwifery last week, the demonstration the students exhibited was also good and this gave me a good impression that the students would transfer such skills to their work places,” she said.

She however, said that this is far different from the reports she gets regarding the kind of treatment patients get from health workers.
She appealed to students to understand that the skills they attain from tertiary institutions should not go to waste, but be extended to the health centers where they are posted.
“When you are called by God you don't work to please people, but to please God, and when you please God, he will make people appreciate what you do and this is even captured in your school anthem (that you’re chosen by God),” she stressed.
Mr Mark Kalanzi, the school principal, said the school is challenged by understaffing, yet the number of students continues to grow by the day.
He revealed that the school has only 12 tutors teaching over 300 students and only 8 are on government pay roll.
Mr Kalanzi who is also the chairman of the association of Principals of Health training Institutions in Uganda also raised concern over meager funds allocated to vocational institutions as opposed to universities, yet they serve the same purpose.
“Take the example of feeding allowance for university students, it is around Shs4,000 per student , but health training students are allocated Shs2,900 each. The same case with salaries of our tutors. Government has revised salaries for university lecturers, sidelining our staff, which makes staff retention hard,” Mr Kalanzi said.
Mr Jude Mbabaali, the Masaka District chairperson appealed to the minister to ask President Museveni to drop the idea of phasing out health centre IIs, saying this will worsen health service.