Africa-Press – Uganda. On the June 11, Hillary arrived home and found his wife feeling very weak. He suggested that they go for a Covid-19 test. Hers was positive while his was negative. The doctor at a nearby clinic prescribed some medicine. A few days later, she got worse with unbearable chest pain. They decided to shop around for a ‘bigger’ (sic) hospital to manage her condition.
A city ambulance service contracted to transport her at 3am gave two conditions. First they pay a surcharge of 100 per cent for transporting a Covid-19 patient so they paid Shs400,000 instead of Shs200,000. Secondly that the ambulance would only move when the owner of the patient was sure of admission at a designated health facility. They did not want to go and wait for there are very many in need of their ambulances.
So Hillary zeroed down on a faith-based missionary hospital in Kampala because there were no beds available at Mulago National Referral Hospital. However, the missionary hospital made it clear that their official policy was not to admit Covid-19 patients. Hillary then made some phone calls to somebody who knew somebody who knew another somebody. That is how they arrived at the hospital where they were initially bounced but admitted a few phone calls later, at about 5am.
The first sign that this journey would not move according to the ways of our Lord Jesus Christ, was when they were asked to do a CT scan on the lungs. Someone whispered that it would set them back by Shs400, 000 with a receipt and Shs200, 000 without! The hospital only accepted cash. Mobile money transactions were permissible. The lungs were found to be slightly damaged.
Next was the prescription. They were told that they needed two main drugs. Remdesivir, an expensive anti-retroviral drug in tablet form, and Ulinastatin, an injectable. Total cost of the drugs per day was Shs1.5 million so the seven days would total Shs7.5 million. The hospital pharmacy provided the drugs for the first day with a receipt and the patient was properly handled.
On the second day, the doctor on the ward called a now anxious Hillary into a room and told him that it was possible for the charges to go down significantly if he paid cash to the doctor and did not insist on receipts or insurance. He also told him honestly, that the oxygen shortage in the facility was for those who did not know that the doctors had kept some cylinders far out of the official channels. These could be made available at Shs500,000. He was advised to book one with cash, just in case.
Hillary parted with Shs1.6m for the Remdesivir tablets for the next four days and the Shs3.2m for the Ulinastatin for the same period which the doctor pocketed without counting. He handed the drug which he pulled out of his drawers, to Hillary to keep and give to the doctor at the time when he requested for it. The injectable Ulinastatin which was kept under refrigerated conditions stayed with the doctor because of the need for refrigeration. Hillary had to part with Shs150,000 whenever it was administered. On the drugs he saved Shs1.2m.
After three days they were discharged and asked to continue treatment at home. The Ulinastatin was given to them in ice packs, kept in the fridge at home and administered by a nurse on call from a clinic.Hillary is not bitter because his wife was treated and she is now up and running. But as an auditor and a religious man he made some observations. The staff at the faith-based hospital beat the ‘no Covid-19 admission’ rule by declaring on the admission form that the patient was suffering from something else like chest pain or malaria. Disturbingly, they then mixed the patients with others in the ward!
Then the doctors because this has become very lucrative, have resorted to working without a break. The same doctors are on the ward day and night just taking time off to sleep in their offices. They do not want to miss any part of the action. So chances are high that they may make mistakes to the detriment of the health of the patients or even themselves due to lack of rest.
These doctors have a network of clinics that supply them with patients (customers) who can afford this sort of money which is peanuts compared to the private hospitals. (One private clinic is demanding shs126 million before it releases the body of a woman who died after a 10 day stay!) How do they get their cheap drugs is also very intriguing.
Because many people look at Covid-19 as a death sentence, by the time they arrive at the hospital they are so scared and ready to part with an arm and a leg. So the doctors then ‘over prescribe.’ They will tell them to pay for drugs say for 14 days. When the patient recovers after five days their caregivers are so elated or if they die after a short time, too depressed to ask for the balance of the drugs and the oxygen they purchased which now become the property of the doctors. The doctors are so much in a hurry that they discharge ‘easily’ so that they get another ‘customer’ to take up the bed and collect more money. Hillary was left wondering what happens to those who do not comply with the doctor’s plans to do things on the tangent of the hospitals regulations.
This also brings into question how they get the statistics of infection, recoveries and deaths. Those who go through this facility which is allegedly not permitted to handle Covid-19 cases are definitely out of the official figures. The days Hillary was in the hospital, almost three to five patients would arrive to replace either recoveries or deaths.
Hillary is one of those very rational people. He is wondering about what happened to the Hipocratic Oath that doctors take. These are not normal times. We first have to fight to stay alive first. Do your part to stay safe and alive. Wear a mask, wash your hands, practice social distancing etc then hope and pray for the best.
Mr Sengoba is a commentator on political and social issuesTwitter: @nsengoba
