Patients sleep on floors, corridors at Nalufenya
A mother watches her baby, who is sharing a bed with two other infants due to the overwhelming number of patients in the emergency ward at Nalufenya Children’s Hospital, under the management of Jinja Regional Referral Hospital, in Jinja. PHOTOS/TAUSI NAKATO
What you need to know:
- Some children share beds, especially in the emergency ward, while others sleep on the floor and in corridors due to congestion at Nalufenya Children’s Hospital.
Nalufenya Children’s Ward, commonly known as the Nalufenya Children’s Hospital at Jinja Regional Referral Hospital (JRRH), is overwhelmed by the number of patients admitted to the facility daily.
Some children share beds, especially in the emergency ward, while others sleep on the floor and in corridors due to congestion.
The facility is a referral unit that serves patients from Busoga Sub-region and some parts of Buganda, including, Buvuma, Buikwe and Kayunga districts.
Dr Emmanuel Tenywa, a worker at the facility, said: “We don’t have enough beds and space to accommodate many patients. Most of them sleep on the floor, others share beds and end up contracting infections.”
“Nalufenya paediatric wing, which is part of JRRH, has an official capacity of 89 beds but every month, we admit more than 200 children,’’ the JRRH Director, Dr Alfred Yayi, said.
He explained further that the hospital sits on eight acres of land but the structures are too small to accommodate many patients.
“The land is adequate but the space within the existing structures are minimal. We need more beds but we don’t have space to put them,’’ he said.
Dr Yayi said because of the inadequate space, they force patients to share beds even when they know it is unhealthy.
He added that the hospital management approached MMI Integrated Steel Limited, a private company, for assistance.
“MMI Steel Limited has donated six beds to us. It is willing to donate more but we don’t have where to put them, the space is inadequate. We want to replace the old beds with new ones,’’Dr Yayi said.
Patients and caregivers occupy the corridors of Nalufenya Children’s Hospital in Jinja due to limited space and beds inside the facility.
He said the existing old structure needs renovation because it is dilapidated.
“We hired a consultant last year to assess this structure and tell us how much it will cost us to renovate it. We need Shs500m to remove the roofs, put new ceiling and we do repairs and general painting,’’Dr Yayi said.
He added that they want to work with other development partners to improve the quality of services at the Nalufenya facility.
“There is an urgent need to create an additional ward space of 160 beds for the relocation of patients to pave the way for renovation works. We need to create temporary, semi-permanent or permanent structures such that we can decongest the facility,’’Dr Yayi said.
He added that management is pushing for Nalufenya to be upgraded to an independent specialised hospital for children.
“The ward is part of the JRRH. We have to duplicate services, we have to split management into two, laboratory, and imaging services. We want that ward to have its management and attract its resources,’’ he said.
The marketing manager of Integrated Steel Limited, Mr Hassan Latif, said they have the capacity to donate more beds but they will partner with the hospital administration to expand the facility for creation of more space for other beds.
“There is need for extension. We believe we can use some of our steel products like Kiboko Mabati to put up a structure that can house a big number of children at the hospital to improve service delivery,’’ he said.
ABOUT THE FACILITY
Nalufenya Children’s Ward is located on Clive Road West (Nalufenya Road) on Jinja Kampala Highway near Jinja Regional Referral Hospital in Jinja City. The facility, initially owned by the Madhivani Group of Companies, was refurbished and handed over to the government in 2005.
