Hoima Referral Hospital told to rein in study leave as staffing crisis bites
"Every health worker intending to go for further education must plan two years ahead and inform his supervisors, and the commission will recommend the deletion of all the workers who don't follow the guidelines because that is abscondment," Mwebesa said.
Dr Mwebesa said the commission had recently recruited a number of staff for Hoima Regional Referral Hospital, including four associate consultants, nurses and laboratory staff. Their posting will soon be undertaken by the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Health. (Credit: Wilson Asiimwe)
HOIMA - The Health Service Commission has asked the top management of Hoima Regional Referral Hospital to regulate staff requesting study leave as the facility grapples with staff shortages.
Dr Henry Mwebesa, the chairperson of the commission, said on July 21, 2026, while meeting staff at the facility, that the commission had unanimously resolved to instruct the management to recall all staff who had gone on study leave without following the required procedures.
Mwebesa said the decision followed concerns about persistent challenges at the facility, which authorities attribute to the large number of health workers on study leave, leaving significant staffing gaps.
He said some health workers request study leave and fail to return within the stipulated period.
"Every health worker intending to go for further education must plan two years ahead and inform his supervisors, and the commission will recommend the deletion of all the workers who don't follow the guidelines because that is abscondment," Mwebesa said.
Mwebesa said some health workers even secure jobs in private facilities while continuing to earn government salaries, contrary to government policy, and also warned health workers against being duped by conmen into paying for promotions.
“Health workers should not be asked for money to get promotions. As a commission, we promote health workers depending on their academic qualifications, work experience and performance. We have received reports whereby health workers are asked for money to facilitate the process, which is very wrong, and it must stop,” Mwebe said.
He emphasised that the hospital's electronic medical records clearly show staff performance and outputs, which the commission uses to assess those who deserve promotion.
Dr Mwebesa said the commission was at the hospital to assess the extent of compliance with and adherence to human resource for health policies and guidelines on rewards and recognition, sanctions and disciplinary measures, and staff training, with emphasis on authorised study leave in line with the hospital training plan.
He also cautioned that the commission had received complaints that in some other hospitals, health workers, even after being duly recruited and posted, take a long time to access the payroll because they are asked to pay bribes.
“Recently I received a report from one of the health workers we had just recruited in one of our health facilities informing me that he had failed to access government payroll because he didn’t have money to pay and he was looking for a loan to facilitate the process,” Mwebesa added.
Mwebesa asked the administration of Hoima Regional Referral Hospital to prioritise the recruitment of critical staff as a way of addressing understaffing, noting that the facility had recently received an increase in its wage bill from the Ministry of Finance.
Dr Ibrahim Bwagga, the acting senior executive consultant at Hoima Regional Referral Hospital, said that with major specialised units being established at the facility, there was a need to recruit more staff.
He said the hospital is currently staffed at 27% and lacks consultants and specialists, with several departments understaffed.
He admitted that nearly all positions at the facility have not been filled, with specialist positions remaining the most critical vacancies.
According to Bwagga, some of the positions with few staff or that remain vacant include senior consultants, surgeons, general practitioners and medical assistants.
He appealed to the Ministry of Health to consider the hospital's requests to recruit essential medical personnel.
Dr Bwagga also said maternal deaths at the facility reduced by 35% during the last financial year.
He added that there was a need to equip and support district general hospitals and Health Centre IVs in neighbouring districts so they can handle some cases without referring them to the regional referral hospital.