Mulago struggling to trace relatives of accident victims

Oct 18, 2017

Victims have spent about three months in the wards without contact from a single relative

A 40-year-old man only identified as Oscar is lying in severe pain at Mulago National Referral Hospital after sustaining severe head injuries in a hit and run incident.

Oscar has spent more than two weeks at the facility's emergency and accident ward.

The health workers in the ward said Oscar has undergone a CT scan on his brain and x-rays but his relatives have not appeared at the hospital. He lost his memory and cannot contact his relatives.

According to his medical file he was knocked from Busunju on Hoima Road and rushed to hospital by Police.

ukwago is admitted at ulagos emergency and accident ward hoto by iolet abatanziLukwago is admitted at Mulago's emergency and accident ward. Photo by Violet Nabatanzi

Other victims are admitted at the neuro and trauma wards. The head of the neurosurgery ward, Dr Michael Muhumuza, said other victims have spent about three months in the wards without contact from a single relative.

The patients include a female victim who sustained severe head and chest injuries following an accident on Masaka road in July. He said the victim spent two months in the intensive care unit and she has just been transferred to the ward for further treatment.

The patient's condition is now stable though she cannot speak properly.

Muhumuza said such patients need their relatives to provide supplementary feeding and specialised drugs, since the hospital cannot afford.

his female patient was was involved in a road traffic accident on asaka road hoto by iolet abatanziThis female patient was was involved in a road traffic accident on Masaka road. Photo by Violet Nabatanzi

"Relatives help in the recovery process. Patients with relatives heal faster than those without any family member and the hospital provides food but cannot provide supplementary," he said.

Muhumuza revealed that since the number of nurses on the ward are few, it becomes hard for them to feed the patients since some of them are using tubes to feed.

He appealed to the public to check the hospital first if their relatives go missing.

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