Senior health officers go on strike over pay
Parents and children at the children’s ward at Mulago National Referral Hospital in May 2022. PHOTO/FRANK BAGUMA
What you need to know:
- Dr Rosemary Byanyima, the acting executive director of Mulago Hospital, said they started feeling the impact of the SHOs’ absence about two weeks ago when the latter went to write their examinations.
Senior health officers (SHOs) across the country yesterday laid down their tools, protesting over unpaid allowances.
Addressing a press conference yesterday, Dr Robert Lubega from Mulago National Referral Hospital, who spoke on behalf of the SHOs, claimed that they have not received their monthly allowances for the past six months.
Dr Lubega said the SHOs working in different government hospitals and universities held a meeting last Thursday and resolved to go on strike over what they termed as failed dialogue with the concerned parties.
“We are the ones providing 63 percent of the health workforce in those hospitals … We have our junior colleagues whom we train, the interns handling emergencies and of course also other staff of the hospital but there is surely a gap,” he said.
Dr Ronnie Bawutungira from Mulago hospital said some of his colleagues at Kabale University, who reported in August last year, have not received any allowance since then. Government committed to pay senior health officers a monthly allowance of Shs2.5m.
“This is the same amount received by the junior colleagues we train, the interns who just have one degree but we said yes, this was a very good gesture. A start for what we hope to be a great journey but alas, the ministries of Health and Finance have decided not to respect the presidential directive to have us paid,” he said.
Dr Rosemary Byanyima, the acting executive director of Mulago Hospital, said they started feeling the impact of the SHOs’ absence about two weeks ago when the latter went to write their examinations.
“As a hospital, we have to continue with work, we have reorganised internally, the junior doctors are directly communicating with the consultants. The long chain of command may cause delays, but the short chain of command will quicken service delivery,” she said.
Dr Diana Atwine, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Health, said the unpredictable number of senior health officers that the ministry receives every year has made it hard for the government to plan for them.
“Right now, we receive a whole list of senior health officers and interns that are completely outside the range of the budgeted funds. This has always been the cause of this problem,” she said.
