Africa-Press – Uganda. Leaders in Lyantonde District have issued new guidelines to fight drug theft and extortion by health workers at Lyantonde General Hospital.
Under the new arrangement, which takes immediate effect, drug stores will only be accessible by the responsible personnel.
All staff are required to put on uniforms bearing their names and each is supposed to stick to his or her job description.
This come on the heels of reports that nurses at the hospital who are supposed to be in wards are found dispensing drugs at the pharmacy , while support staff such as security guards sometimes attend to patients.
Mr Godfrey Mbetegyerize, the Lyantonde Resident District Commissioner, said the new guidelines were endorsed by a joint meeting attended by the district health officer, Dr Moses Nkanika, district chairperson Fred Muhangi, acting deputy chief administrative officer Tadius Nimusiima, hospital heads of departments, and some district councillors on July 7.
“Some hospital staff have been doing work outside their mandate and this at times caused friction. Some have also been extorting money from patients. This has to stop forthwith. We want all hospital staff to be ethical and stop torturing the patients psychologically,” he said in an interview yesterday.
Dr Nkanika promised to work closely with the hospital management to ensure that the new guidelines are enforced.
“The image of the hospital is damaged just because of a few greedy individuals. If they don’t change, we will change them,” he said.
The hospital administrator, Mr Muhammad Mwesigwa, said: “If everyone is doing what he or she is supposed to do, it means everything will go on very well.”
The new guidelines come after one female staff was caught extorting money from a patient who had sought medical treatment at the facility.
The suspect, who was working in the maternity ward, reportedly demanded Shs150,000 from Mr Deborah Munita who had gone to the hospital to give birth.
Ms Munita’s family managed to raise only Shs100,000 and the suspect still complained that it was very little.
Seeking treatment
Usually, when patients fail to get medical treatment at Lyantonde Hospital, they go to Kijukizo Health Centre III, which is run by the Catholic Church or Lyantonde Muslim Health Centre III owned by the Muslim faith.
Others with serious complications either go to Masaka or Mbarara regional referral hospitals, about 70kms away.
Lyantonde General Hospital receives patients from other districts such as Kiruhura, Rakai, Lwengo and some parts of Sembabule. Between 600 and 1,000 patients seek treatment from Lyantonde General Hospital every day.
Health facilities
The district has 24 public health centre IIs, four health centre IIIs, one health centre IV (Mpumudde Health Centre IV) and one hospital.
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