Masaka hospital decries drug shortage, power outage

Masaka.

The management of Masaka Regional Referral Hospital has said intermittent power supply and drug shortage have frustrated service delivery at the facility.

According to Mr Ereazer Mugisha, the hospital principal administrator, government has consistently failed to avail the hospital with enough drug supplies yet they receive about 1,800 patients every day.

“Although our budget for drugs is Shs1.5 billion this financial year, government credited the hospital’s drug supply account at the National Medical Stores with only Shs930 million and the situation has been like this for several years,” Mr Mugisha said.

He was speaking to MPs Mathias Mpuuga (Masaka Municipality) and Babirye Kabanda (Masaka Woman) who were touring the hospital last week.

The hospital administrator said on average, the facility receives 1,800 out patients and about 360 in patients daily, of which about 40 are new deliveries, but that the drugs supplied to the facility are not enough to meet the current demand.

“We have prepared a formal petition that we shall to submit to Parliament, asking it to push for a supplementary budget to urgently address these problems,” he said.

Worries

The administrator also expressed concern over the constant power outages, which he said have resulted in several deaths, especially in the intensive care units and theatres.

“Our generator cannot power some of these essential machines yet abrupt power blackouts are regular hence complicating our work,” he added, demanding that the hospital is connected to a stable power line.

In response, the MPs noted that before tabling the hospital’s petition before Parliament, they will first task the government to explain what they described as deliberate negligence of the health sector.