Reassess Uganda’s health system
Oct 07, 2009
Despite the continued health service delivery reforms, many public health facilities still face the challenge of rebuilding public confidence.
Peter Mugagga
Despite the continued health service delivery reforms, many public health facilities still face the challenge of rebuilding public confidence.
The media has continued to highlight the plight of the public health facilities. Some end up being legal cases, like the Mityana Hospital incident where an expectant mother was neglected because she had no money to pay the medical workers.
With a number of such cases, one wonders whether the problem is caused by the demotivated human resource. Perhaps yes, since their salaries are meagre.
Are the continuous training seminars and workshops breeding more administrators than clinical managers? How about the various donors and projects support in terms of travel, field allowances and per diem to the medical workers?
It could be aggravating the human resource problem by objectively inclining the medical workers towards general administration.
One would further think of the lack of infrastructure at these health facilities, but a quick glance around, will reveal abandoned vehicles due to lack of spare parts, modern theatres and relatively new buildings which are poorly managed.
It is time for the health ministry to divorce clinical management from general administration and let specialisation take its course. This would allow the clinical staff to concentrate and grow in their respective areas of specialisation. It would also mean that health workers would rely on the administration side to offer logistical and other non-medical support.
The health administration would also concentrate on ensuring efficient systems are in place to support the technical side. Medical staff are currently divided into clinical and administrative branches and are not excelling in both.
Some hospitals have hospital administrators, but how about the lower level health facilities — the health centres that are administered by medical workers. Could this be the problem in our health service delivery systems? Uganda’s health services need a reassessment.
The writer is a project management specialist
Despite the continued health service delivery reforms, many public health facilities still face the challenge of rebuilding public confidence.
The media has continued to highlight the plight of the public health facilities. Some end up being legal cases, like the Mityana Hospital incident where an expectant mother was neglected because she had no money to pay the medical workers.
With a number of such cases, one wonders whether the problem is caused by the demotivated human resource. Perhaps yes, since their salaries are meagre.
Are the continuous training seminars and workshops breeding more administrators than clinical managers? How about the various donors and projects support in terms of travel, field allowances and per diem to the medical workers?
It could be aggravating the human resource problem by objectively inclining the medical workers towards general administration.
One would further think of the lack of infrastructure at these health facilities, but a quick glance around, will reveal abandoned vehicles due to lack of spare parts, modern theatres and relatively new buildings which are poorly managed.
It is time for the health ministry to divorce clinical management from general administration and let specialisation take its course. This would allow the clinical staff to concentrate and grow in their respective areas of specialisation. It would also mean that health workers would rely on the administration side to offer logistical and other non-medical support.
The health administration would also concentrate on ensuring efficient systems are in place to support the technical side. Medical staff are currently divided into clinical and administrative branches and are not excelling in both.
Some hospitals have hospital administrators, but how about the lower level health facilities — the health centres that are administered by medical workers. Could this be the problem in our health service delivery systems? Uganda’s health services need a reassessment.
The writer is a project management specialist