Mbale hospital staff on the spot over extortion

Medical workers at Mbale Regional Referral Hospital in Mbale City have been accused of demanding money from patients before they attend to them.

Several patients and residents interviewed at the weekend said they have raised the issue with relevant authorities at the hospital in vain.

The hospital, which was opened in 1924, has a capacity of about 400 beds. The facility serves the districts of Busia, Tororo, Butaleja, Pallisa, Butebo, Bududa, Manafwa, Namisindwa, Mbale Sironko, Bulambuli, Kapchorwa, Bukwo, and Kween.

Mr Moses Wabuya, a resident of Bungokho-Mutoto Sub-county in Mbale District, said when he brought his sick wife to the hospital at night last Sunday, the health workers, who were on duty, asked him to pay Shs100, 000 before they could attend to her.

“They asked me to give them Shs100, 000 but I didn’t have it. I begged them to attend to the patient as I looked for the money in vain,” he said.

Mr Wabuya said he later managed to find Shs50, 000, which he gave to them but they still refused to attend to his patient.

“But when they realised her condition was deteriorating, they just wrote for me the drugs to buy without touching her,” he said.

Mr Wabuya said he eventually took the patient to Busiu Health Centre the following day.

Ms Julia Namusisi, another patient at the hospital, said many patients, especially those brought at night suffer if they don’t have money to bribe the health workers.

“The health workers have become undisciplined in this hospital. I have been admitted here for one week now but I have witnessed terrible things,” Ms Namusisi said.

Dr Emmanuel Tugaineyo, the director of Mbale Regional Referral Hospital, could neither confirm nor deny the allegations of extortion.

“Sometimes it’s so hard to tell who is doing what in such a big institution because many people have different character traits,” he said.

 “This act is illegal and unacceptable by the hospital administration plus the government of Uganda,” Dr Tugaineyo added.

He also blamed the patients and public at large for not reporting such acts to relevant authorities, including police.

“They should report to us or to the police so that we can arrest the culprits. It should also be known that both patients and medical workers who give and receive this money commit a crime,” Dr Tugaineyo added.

He further explained that it’s only in Masaba wing, a private unit at the hospital, where patients are supposed to pay some money.  “And you are given a receipt,” he said.

Ms Janet Namuwenge, a resident of Mbale City, said when she took a patient to the Mbale hospital on August 8, she was also asked to pay Shs100, 000.

“When we reached the hospital, there was no doctor to attend to us. After about 5 hours, one of the health workers came but he wanted Shs100, 000 before he could attend to the patient,” she said.

Ms Namuwenge said they looked for the money but they only managed to get Shs50, 000 which they gave to him.

“After giving him the money, he wrote to us the drugs we are supposed to buy but unfortunately he did not even help to administer the medicines. We did it ourselves,” she said.

Ms Namuwenge explained that the following day, the doctors discharged the patient even when she was still in pain.

Ms Rose Napio, a resident of Namatala Ward, Industrial Division, Mbale City, who was found in the hospital’s maternity ward taking care of her newborn baby, said midwives mistreat expectant mothers. “The government should intervene because many poor people are dying due to poor service delivery here,” she said.

The Mbale City deputy resident city commissioner (RCC), Mr Robert Webale, said they will investigate the allegations.

“We have not received the complaints on extortion of money from patients but we will investigate and whoever will be found guilty will be charged accordingly,” he said.

State of hospital

The hospital, which was opened in 1924, has a capacity of about 400 beds. However, staff at the facility have in the past been cited in many ethical issues. In June, police arrested a doctor at the regional referral hospital on allegations of stealing 40 oxygen cylinders from the facility. The medic allegedly took the cylinders to his private facility.