Mulago, five other hospitals face staffing crisis

KAMPALA - Mulago National Referral Hospital and five other hospitals in Kampala are facing a staffing crisis, the latest Auditor General’s report indicates.

Edward Akol’s report to Parliament for the audit year ended December 31, 2024, says Mulago has an intensive care unit (ICU) with a bed capacity of 27, but currently, only 15 beds are occupied, which is 56% occupancy due to lack of professional health care staff.

He said the various critical equipment in the other five hospitals, Butabika, Kiruddu, Kawempe, China Naguru, and Women's Specialised Hospitals, is nonfunctional.

“In Entebbe, Kisenyi Health Centre IV, Makerere University Hospital, Kasangati Health Centre IV there were instances where ICU beds, patient monitors and oxygen concentrators are not being utilised yet functional due to absence of medical personnel,” the Auditor General reported.

He stated that the underutilization and non-functionality of medical equipment was attributed to lack of enough trained personnel to run the complex equipment as well as inadequate space to fix the equipment.

Akol warned that inadequate use of medical equipment impairs service delivery due to limited diagnosis.

“I advised management of the respective hospitals to consider training staff in the operation of the various complex equipment and follow-up with the ministry of finance to provide funding to expand space to install the various equipment to enhance operational efficiency,” he said.

He handed over the report to Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa on January 15, 2025.

Inadequate funding

Akol also reported that he reviewed the approved budget and equipment maintenance plans and noted that the Health Infrastructure Department (HID) of the ministry of Health requires approximately sh20b for the maintenance of all medical equipment.

“However, only sh1.8b was allocated in the budget. Consequently, the department lacks the capacity to maintain all medical equipment, except for specialized equipment whose maintenance is embedded in the framework contracts with the respective service providers who originally supplied the machines,” he said.

He also reported that the Ministry of Health did not secure extra funding for the maintenance of medical equipment delivered during COVID-19.

“This funding shortfall leads to the breakdown of medical equipment, negatively impacting the healthcare delivery system. The inability to maintain equipment reduces the availability and reliability of medical services, potentially compromising patient care and safety,” he said.

He stated that the accounting officer (Dr Diana Atwine) explained that the Ministry of Health has always presented this budget requirement to the Ministry of Finance as an unfunded priority.

“The same has been presented to the health committee of Parliament. However, the funding has never been increased from the sh1.8b, despite additional sophisticated medical equipment,” he said. 

The equipment includes CT scanners, MRI scanners, ICU equipment, high-capacity medical oxygen plants, and laboratory equipment that were recently procured, installed and commissioned in hospitals across the country. 

He added that the Ministry of Health said it will continue to request and engage the Ministry of Finance to increase the maintenance budget for medical equipment across the country.

“I advised the accounting officer to follow up on securing increased funding for the maintenance of medical equipment through engagement with the Ministry of Finance and Parliament to address the critical funding gap,” Akol said.