Staff shortage leaves four hospital units redundant
A health worker enters the Emergency Unit of Kayunga Regional Referral Hospital on January 23, 2023. PHOTO | FRED MUZAALE
What you need to know:
- A highly-placed source at the facility, who preferred not to be named in order to speak freely on the matter, disclosed that the units such as the Outpatient Department, Surgery, Radiology, Obstetrics, Paediatrics, and many others are not operating at full capacity due to understaffing.
Four units at Kayunga Regional Referral Hospital in Kayunga District are non-operational due to lack of qualified medical staff, Daily Monitor has established.
The units include the Accident and Emergency Unit, Private Ward, Physiotherapy, and the Ear Nose and Throat Unit. They were added to the facility when the government renovated and elevated the hospital from a general to a regional hospital.
Mr Louis Muhindo, the principal hospital administrator, said the facility has about 120 medical staff, a number that is far below the standard staff of 500.
“The Intensive Care Unit (ICU) is operational, but it only has four medical staff trained to handle patients, yet we need at least 15 medical staff. The ICU must have an anaesthetist, surgeon, and a paediatrician, among other staff,” he said.
“We have an equipped Emergency Unit, but we continue to make referrals to Mulago, Kawempe and Kiruddu referral hospitals for even cases that could have been handled at Kayunga. The reason is that we do not have the medical staff for some of the specialised departments. The hospital, however, meets 97 percent of the fuel cost for the referral cases made to the different facilities,’’ he added.
A highly-placed source at the facility, who preferred not to be named in order to speak freely on the matter, disclosed that the units such as the Outpatient Department, Surgery, Radiology, Obstetrics, Paediatrics, and many others are not operating at full capacity due to understaffing.
The Accident and Emergency units lack a CT scan, which is very crucial in diagnosis of conditions such as injuries. This explains why some patients have to dig deep into their pockets to pay for services at private health facilities,” the source revealed on Tuesday.
Mr Muhindo said besides the lack of a CT scan and enough staff to run it, the ICU is well equipped with monitors, ventilators and other medical equipment. Upon elevation to a regional referral hospital, the 50-year-old facility’s beds were increased from 100 to 300.
Mr Robert Ssentongo, the hospital director, said they have written to the Ministry of Health to have the staffing gap addressed.
“We missed out when the ministry was giving out the CT scans because by the time the procurement for the equipment was made; this facility (Kayunga Hospital) was still a general hospital. But we hope to be considered in the next phase,” Dr Ssentongo said.
The facility is supposed to serve the districts of Buikwe, Kayunga, Mukono, Buvuma, Luweero, and Nakasongola.
