By KT Reporter
A crisis in service delivery at Kabale Regional Referral Hospital has shocked officials from the Inspectorate of Government (IG), culminating in the arrest of a nursing assistant, Nicholas Tumuheki. The team, led by Inspector General of Government Justice Aisha Naluzze Batala, included Savio Kakooza Ntesibe, Director of Ombudsman Affairs, and Noeline Nsungwa, the IGG in charge of the Kabale Regional Office.
Earlier in the day, the delegation had visited the Regional Inspectorate office in Kabale for a familiarisation and courtesy call. The team first held a closed-door meeting at the offices, then met district leaders, including the Chief Administrative Officer Robert Mugabe, LC5 Chairperson Nelson Nshangabasheija, and Resident District Commissioner (RDC) retired Major Godfrey Katamba. They also met Kabale Municipality authorities led by Assistant Town Clerk Sunday Eric.
After the meetings, the officials proceeded to Kikungiri Hill to inspect land donated by Kabale District Local Government for the planned construction of new regional offices. In the afternoon, the team made an unannounced visit to Kabale Regional Referral Hospital. Upon arrival, they were left waiting in the hospital compound for about 15 minutes without any official receiving them.
They observed that no senior hospital administrators were on duty. Although the office of the Hospital Director was open, the director, Dr. Philbert Nyeko, was absent. Other key offices, including the hospital administrator’s office, were closed. After more than 15 minutes, an office attendant who identified herself only as Claire welcomed the officials and led them to the Outpatient Department (OPD), which they found closed.
Several patients were stranded without any health workers to attend to them. At the emergency ward, patients and attendants complained bitterly about poor service delivery. They alleged that it had become routine for health workers to direct patients to buy drugs and medical supplies from a private pharmacy opposite the Kabale District headquarters, less than a kilometre from the hospital.
One of the attendants, Abia Ndyabagye, said his brother had been involved in an accident early Tuesday morning and was referred to Kabale Regional Referral Hospital from Kamwezi Health Centre IV in Rukiga District. He said that upon arrival, no health workers were available to assist them. When some eventually appeared, they allegedly placed the patient on the floor instead of a hospital bed.
Ndyabagye further alleged that a nursing assistant in the emergency ward, later identified as Nicholas Tumuheki, prescribed drugs and other medical supplies for the bleeding patient and instructed them to buy the items from a nearby pharmacy. He said he spent UGX 150,000 on drugs and supplies. What angered him most, he added, was that even after purchasing the drugs, they were not administered to the patient.
The complaints angered the IGG’s team, who demanded explanations from the health workers on duty. One of them, Dr. Byarugaba, told the team that the hospital lacked essential supplies such as gloves. As the officials were still in the emergency ward, Dr. Peter Kangwagye appeared wearing a face mask and introduced himself as the Acting Hospital Director, a position he said he had held for only three days. He did not explain the absence of the substantive Hospital Director, Dr. Nyeko. When questioned about the poor service delivery, Dr. Kangwagye said he was not aware of the problems.
Officials pressed him to explain how such a situation could occur. Dr. Kangwagye attributed the challenges to low supplies, saying the hospital stores were empty.
The team then directed him and other health workers to take them to the hospital stores to verify the claims of stock-outs. To their surprise, they found items such as gloves in stock. A storekeeper explained that although supplies were available, they were insufficient.
Following the findings, nursing assistant Nicholas Tumuheki was arrested and taken to Kabale Police Station. Justice Naluzze said she would be questioned over allegations of directing patients to purchase medical supplies from private pharmacies despite some items being available in hospital stores.
Dr. Kangwagye was later instructed to return to the emergency ward and formally apologise to patients and their attendants for the poor services at the facility.
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