FORT PORTAL: Members of the Parliament on the Public Accounts Committee have expressed concern about the inadequate staff and limited drug supplies at Fort Portal Regional Referral Hospital.
On Monday, the MPs visited the hospital to conduct the verification of the queries that were raised by the Auditor General.
According to the report, the hospital that serves patients from nine districts was facing a number of challenges which has affected the delivery of health services. According to the report, there are two beds in the emergency ward, and out of the 10 Intensive Care Unit beds the facility received from the ministry of health, only 4 are operational due to limited space in the hospital.
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The report also indicated that the facility is understaffed with only 44 percent of the specialists and that it was receiving 55 percent of essential drugs from the National Medical Stores-NMS.
Medard Lubega Ssegona, the Chairperson of the Committee called for joint efforts to ensure that health services are improved at the facility. He said that the facility needs urgent attention, especially the causality ward and intensive care units.
Alex Adaku the Director of Fort Portal Regional Referral Hospital told the MPs that there is a need to improve the infrastructure at the facility to create a more convenient space for the patients. He said that in case of emergencies, the hospital is forced to improvise a tent to accommodate the high volume of patients at the referral hence exposing them to infections.
Adaku said failure by the government to streamline the salary of health workers has also destabilized service delivery since medics lay down their tools during strikes.
According to Ssegona, money for the purchase of a CT Scan and an X-ray for the hospital was included in the budget for the next financial year.
The committee is traversing all regional referral hospitals for oversight visits.
