The Minister of Health, Dr Chris Baryomunsi, has revealed that the X-ray machine and one of the three oxygen plants at Kabale Regional Referral Hospital have been out of service for about a month, raising concerns over delayed repairs by the Ministry of Health.
Dr Baryomunsi made the revelation after conducting a surprise inspection of the hospital at about 2:30am on Sunday.
Speaking after the visit, the minister said he was impressed by the overall performance of the hospital despite the equipment breakdowns.
“One challenge I found is that the X-ray machine and one of the three oxygen plants broke down and for one month, Ministry of Health teams have not gone to work on them,” he said.
Despite the equipment challenges, Dr Baryomunsi commended the hospital management and staff for maintaining high standards of service delivery.
He said health workers were on duty during his visit, the hospital was clean, and patients he spoke to expressed satisfaction with the care they were receiving.
The minister also noted that poor patients requiring CT scan services are exempted from paying the prescribed fees.
He praised the hospital’s director, Dr Allen Namutebi, for the institution’s performance and urged other regional referral hospitals to emulate Kabale Regional Referral Hospital.
“I am impressed with the work there. Health workers were on duty, the hospital is clean, and all patients I randomly talked to are happy with the services. Even for services officially paid for, such as CT scans, the poor are exempted. I commend Dr Allen Namutebi and the entire team for the good work. Other hospitals, including Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital, should benchmark from Kabale,” Dr Baryomunsi said.
Minister Baryomunsi, directed teams at the Ministry to urgently repair the faulty X-ray machine, saying delays were forcing patients to seek the service from private facilities at an extra cost.
“Take note of that and ensure it is rectified. The team should move very fast because patients who need X-ray services are currently being referred outside the hospital, where they pay about Shs20,000 for an X-ray,” he said.
Despite the equipment challenge, Dr Baryomunsi commended the hospital staff for maintaining quality healthcare services across the paediatric, maternity, internal medicine and obstetric wards.
He said patients had expressed satisfaction with the care they receive, adding that Kabale Regional Referral Hospital was setting a standard worth emulating.
“The services are appreciated by the patients. The staff are doing a commendable job, and we shall encourage other hospitals that are not performing as well to benchmark here and learn from their best practices,” he said.
CUE IN MINISTER BARYOMUNSI….ON THE MATTER…..ENG//
Kabale Regional Referral Hospital serves as the referral facility for the districts of Kabale, Rubanda, Rukiga, Kisoro, Kanungu and Rukungiri. It is also designated as one of Uganda’s internship hospitals and is expected to become the teaching hospital for Kabale University’s medical school.
The government-funded facility has undergone major expansion and renovation in recent years to improve specialised healthcare services in the Kigezi sub-region.
