Atutur hospital X-ray machine grounded since 2018
Patients lie outside a ward at Atutur Hospital in Kumi District. Photo/File
What you need to know:
- When the hospital failed to pay, he came back to remove his mother board grounding the machine again. However, he was arrested and ordered to re-fix it but it broke down again and since then, several attempts by the ministry engineers to repair the machines have failed to yield results.
The management of Atutur hospital in Kumi District has been stuck with a non-functional X-ray machine since 2018.
Dr Simon Oluka, the Medical Superintendent of Atutur Hospital during a community dialogue meeting organized at the facility by Kumi Citizens Network for development (KUCIND), an NGO, said that the hospital has been operating without providing X-ray services since 2018 when the machine broke down.
“In 2018, when the X-ray machine broke down, someone repaired it on condition that the hospital pays him for his work and spares used in two weeks’ time but when the hospital failed to pay, he came back to remove his mother board grounding the machine again. However, he was arrested and ordered to re-fix it but it broke down again and since then, several attempts by the ministry engineers to repair the machines have failed to yield results,” Dr. Oluka said.
Dr Malinga said that the absence of the functional X-ray machine in the facility has forced them to refer patients that require the services to the neighboring private facilities.
However, a section of beneficiaries that seek for health services at Atutur hospital questioned the intentions as to why it has taken five years without appropriate action taken to fix the X-ray machine.
A source that spoke on condition of anonymity expressed suspicion that the hospital management and the Ministry of Health could have connived to destroy the machine in order to pave the way for private businesses to boom.
“I think it’s deliberate and they know what they are doing, because it broke down and an individual was able to repair it. How come the ministry's seasoned engineers failed to repair it permanently?”
Mr James Omuya the Local Council One chairperson Apuda village in Akalabai Parish, Atutur Sub County in Kumi District said the absence of the X-ray services at the facility has made access to the service costly and has affected timely delivery of health services to patients.
“This is affecting people’s livelihoods, imagine how frustrating it is! If a poor old woman came from the most remote village in Amenya, Nyero or Tiisai Island in Ongino. She neither has money nor a caretaker but she is sent to a private clinic to pay money for X-ray services,” Mr Omuya said.
According to him, the cost of X-ray services in Atutur private clinics ranges from shs 30,000 to shs 50,000.
Dr Emmanuel Ongala the District Health Officer (DHO), Kumi said that the district is aware of the challenge and due to the high cost of procurement, the district cannot afford and requires interventions from the Ministry of Health.
He said a modern X-ray machine requires more than Shs300m.
Mr Emmanuel Ainebyona the Ministry of Health Public Relations Officer when contacted on phone for a comment, did not answer his phone calls.
