Activists petition IGG over extortion at Masaka Hospital
Caregivers in the compound of Masaka hospital Maternity Ward. Some health workers at the faculty have been accused of extorting money from patients. PHOTO/RICHARD KYANJO
What you need to know:
- Masaka hospital was constructed in 1927, as a treatment centre for syphilis, before it was later elevated to a referral level in 1995 to offer services to the greater southern region districts.
- On average, the hospital gets at least 1,800 outpatients and about 360 admissions daily, of which a minimum of 40 are new deliveries. However, it receives less funds compared to its needs.
Health rights activists under the Southern Region Social Rights Association (SRSRA) have petitioned the Inspector General of Government (IGG) to investigate staff of Masaka Regional Referral Hospital over alleged extortion.
In an October 10 petition signed by Mr Swaibu Makumbi Sulambaaya, the executive director of SRSRA, the activists claim some managerial issues at the hospital need to be addressed with immediate effect.
Mr Sulambaaya said some patients are forced to pay money in order to access services meant to be free of charge.
“….to access services for equipment like CT scan, which the government donated to the facility, poor patients are asked to pay money at the private wing and later access services at the general wards where the machine was installed,’’ the petition reads in part.
“Ideally, in a public facility, if patients are to pay a standard fee to access CT scan services, there could have been receipts at the CT scan department, not the private wing,” the petition added.
This arrangement, Mr Sulambaaya said, has given room to unscrupulous health workers to demand money from patients who need free services such as X-ray scans and maternity care.
Last October, the government donated a CT scan machine to the hospital, the first of its kind at the facility. It became operational in June.
However, to access CT scan services, patients are required to pay some money.
For example, a patient who requires the scan for the brain plain pays Shs120,000, brain contrasted scan (Shs150,000), chest contrasted scan (Shs200,000), and abdominal contrasted scan (Shs200,000).
Despite the standard rates, Mr Sulambaaya claimed that sometimes patients are asked to pay more money.
“Many patients have reached out to me complaining about being charged heavily at the private wing,’’ he added.
While commissioning the modern digital CT scan X-ray machine at the hospital last month, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health, Dr Diana Atwine, said in extreme cases, patients from poor families should access CT scan services free of charge.
“…if they [hospital board] assess that a patient cannot afford to pay any money, the person should get the service for free,” she said.
Mr Charles Tumushiime, the hospital administrator of Masaka Hospital, said the money being charged for CT Scan services are subsidised rates, which were approved by the hospital board of governors after seeking guidance from the Ministry of Health.
“The money being charged are legal and we have endeavoured to explain this to the public. If there are cases of extortion, that can be investigated and culprits handled separately,” he said.
In the same petition, Mr Sulambaaya also complains about free meals (posho and beans) and porridge, which were scrapped by the hospital management.
“… free meals have been served at the facility for many years and I am wondering why the new administration uses the issue of budget constraints to remove it…’’ the petition further reads.
In April, the management scrapped free meals for all patients and continued helping only those without caregivers, citing an inability to meet the expenses amid rising food prices.
The lucky 66 inpatients currently getting free food, include those in the psychiatric ward, without caretakers, and those brought in by police.
Mr Tumushime said they need about Shs250 million every financial year to sustain the feeding programme, but currently, they only receive Shs80 million.
