Lira hospital struggling with rising patient numbers
Patients at Lira Hospital’s outpatient department on October 3. PHOTO/BILL OKETCH
What you need to know:
- At the children’s ward, for instance, three children often share one bed and their caretakers hardly have any place to sit, let alone sleep.
Lira Regional Referral Hospital, a 96-year-old government health facility, is struggling to serve the rising number of patients.
Mr Peter Okello Odeke, the hospital senior principal administrator, says: “First and foremost, the wards are small. So, there is limited working space and that is what causes overcrowding.”
At the children’s ward, for instance, three children often share one bed and their caretakers hardly have any place to sit, let alone sleep.
Health workers at the hospital, which serves Lango, parts of Teso and Acholi sub-regions, are overwhelmed by the number of patients.
The hospital’s OPD receives more than 400 patients on a daily basis.
Those seeking services come from the districts of Kaberamaido, Kalaki and Amuria (Teso); Dokolo, Lira, Oyam, Apac, Kwania, Alebtong, Otuke, Kole and Amolatar (Lango); and Agago, Pader and Omoro (Acholi).
Mr Okello says the hospital currently has 400 staff members instead of the required 1,200, according to the staffing structure of regional referral hospitals.
“This hospital came into existence around 1928 and the population of the country by then was small. So, space was quite not an issue. We have gone through time and know that our population has increased,” Mr Okello says.
Uganda’s total population was 45.9 million persons in 2024, according to Uganda Bureau of Statistics (Ubos).
“So, the positioning of the wards was not like it needed some special planning where now we are advocating for aerial space. You can have a plot of 50x50 but you cannot expand horizontally but vertically, you will even go up to many roofs that you want,” he adds.
The situation at the maternity ward as deplorable. Due to limited space, the hospital now keeps mothers who have already delivered under tents to free up space for expectant mothers inside the ward.
“That is why we are even saying that most of the structures here are condemned but we cannot break them down when there is no space to put the patients,” Mr Okello adds.
“There is a lot of discomfort. But when there is a new ward complex, we shall be able to have the patients within one unit with less interruption. So, that ward complex will be something that will answer the space problem, and the placement of equipment,” he says.
Intervention
However, the government has began addressing challenges faced by the hospital.
A laboratory is currently under construction at the hospital.
The programme is being implemented under Uganda Covid-19 Response and Emergency Preparedness Project (UCREPP) .
The laboratory, expected to be commissioned in December 2024, is expected to improve diagnosis, sample collection, and care for patients in the Lango Sub-region.
“This laboratory is a game changer for our region. We’re grateful for UCREPP’s support in enhancing our diagnostic capabilities,” said the hospital senior principal administrator.
“We feel happy now that we will be able to do our work properly because what informs prescription is proper diagnosis. So, once you diagnose properly then you’re able to make the right prescription and then you will be able to treat the patients,”
The laboratory, which is 96 percent complete, will, among others, reduce reliance on Kampala-based labs, minimise transportation delays, enhance diagnostic accuracy and efficiency, and streamline patient care, ensuring timely treatment.
Mr Aggrey Kentaro, the clerk of works at Oubuntu Consulting Ltd, told this newspaper on October 3 that the lab would be ready for use in the next two weeks.
