Private hospitals struggle with Covid cases

Of the 25 Covid-19 deaths the country has registered, more than 70 per cent are linked to private healthcare facilities.

The Uganda National Association of Private Hospitals (UNAPH) says the deaths come as no surprise given private health facilities are the first point of contact for at least 80 per cent of Ugandans seeking healthcare.
The owners of private hospitals want government to train their health workers and support them in establishing centres for testing Covid-19 in a move to curb the deaths and infections of their health workers.

The Health ministry has, however, been skeptical about private facilities managing Covid-19 patients. The Ministry has always warned them to focus on case identification and referral and leave treatment of Covid-19 patients to public hospitals.

Dr Jane Ruth Aceng, the Health Minister, in her address to the nation on July 30, citing Rubaga hospital, one of the private facilities, where Covid-19 deaths have been reported, warned the facility against violating stipulated rules.

“I want to appreciate Rubaga hospital for taking the step but I want to remind Rubaga that procedures have to be followed. For laboratories, we have an accreditation committee that is chaired by Prof Pontiano Kaleebu. As long as they are not accredited and we have not standardised their laboratories, we cannot encourage people to go there,” she said.

Ms Grace Ssali Kiwanuka, the executive director of Uganda Healthcare Federation (UHF), in an interview with Daily Monitor yesterday blamed the shortfalls faced by the private health facilities on government.

Ms Kiwanuka said government had promised to train health workers at private centres in Covid-19 response in vain.
“With more than 1,600 health facilities in Kampala, people are going everywhere they want with symptoms that are similar to those of common diseases. The challenge with the private facilities are that the health workers don’t have sufficient knowledge to be able to differentiate the symptoms,” she said.

The UHF boss said the health workers are, however, trying on their own to catch up and screen the Covid-19 patients.
Dr Denis Kimalyo, the executive director of Uganda National Association of Private Hospitals (UNAPH), said the general orientation of their health workers towards the response is very poor.

“The private sector is the first point of contact for 80 per cent of Ugandans. We have not been oriented in the management of cases. More deaths that are being reported from the private facilities are not surprising given that most patients come to us as the first contact,” he said.

Dr Kimalyo said although government has recently brought on board the private ambulance providers, the industry remains disgruntled as far as Covid-19 response is concerned.

Testing for Covid-19
The UHF and UNAPH say the established system by the Health ministry for Covid-19 testing is not effective due to delays in picking up samples and releasing results.

Dr Kimalyo said the delay can only be solved if testing is carried out in private facilities.
He asked that government considers increasing testing for Covid-19 in the country by acquiring more testing machines for health facilities.

“We can have public-private partnership in the financing of acquiring testing machines. But there are also those that can acquire independently. If they can cut the taxes on the testing machines and kits or they can supply us with those kits, it can help so much because more Ugandans come to us,” he said.

Ms Kiwanuka said the government should loan some of the Covid-19 testing machines such as PCR [polymerase chain reaction] to the health facilities.
“The bigger concern is that although three facilities have been accredited, they are clustered in one location. Where will Ugandans in distant areas get the tests?” she asked.

“The PCR machine costs around $35,000 without the consumables. The problem is that this cost is very high for most facilities and you can’t predict how long they will be used,” she added.
Mr Emmanuel Ainebyoona, the senior public relations officer at the Health Ministry, said government is working to address the challenges.

“We are working to ensure that private health facilities are able to collect samples and forward [to the established testing laboratories]. But also the health facilities should also prepare for any eventuality,” he said.
The government has accredited the private facilities of MBN Clinical Laboratories, Lancet laboratories and Medipal International Hospital to do Covid-19 testing.

Health ministry
Emmanuel Ainebyoona. “We have given them [private facilities] guidance on how they can refer patients and also establish isolation units as they are waiting for their samples to be taken. Everything is streamlined only that what may need to be done is awareness,” he said. “If they can’t handle a patient they should be able to refer the patients..,” he added.

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