The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Mbarara, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The neonatal unit at Mbarara regional referral hospital is struggling with staffing gaps, which affects service delivery especially care for premature babies. The unit and the referral hospital in general serve patients from districts in Uganda and the neighboring Rwanda, and Tanzania. There are currently three doctors and nine nurses in the unit.
Dr. Elias Kumbakumba, the head of the Neonatal unit, says the nine nurses take care of between 40-50 patients at both the Maternal and Neonatal wards. He says that the ward needs more than 20 nurses to cover both the night and day shifts with at least 1 nurse attending to two patients.
He says the highest number of babies referred to the Neonatal unit is from the maternity ward and other health centers and district hospitals like Itojo and Kitagata. Dr. Celestine Barigye, the Director of Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital, says that not only the Neonatal unit is short of staff but the entire facility.
He however says that they are failing to recruit more staff because of budgetary constraints, noting that they are hopeful that the ministry will approve their new staff structure to allow them to recruit about 700 staff, the majority of whom will be nurses who will be deployed in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Halison Kagure, the Public Relations Officer of Mbarara Regional Hospital, says that the hospital records about 10,000 deliveries annually and more than 1,000 referrals.
Rehema Twesiime, a resident of Kajaho, Isingiro district who was referred from Nshungezi health center III says that she has been under the care of two nurses since she arrived at the Unit two weeks ago. She wants the government to recruit more nurses who will be offering timely care to the patients.
*****
URN
