Masaka, Jinja hospitals get mobile workshop trucks
Oct 30, 2017
Dr Diana Atwine said the trucks have been procured to help functionalise and improve efficiency of the Regional Medical Equipment Workshops
Mobile medical workshop trucks that were handed over by the health ministry. Photo by Nancy Nanyonga
Masaka and Jinja regional hospitals have received mobile workshop trucks worth sh720b to support service delivery.
The main function of the mobile trucks is to repair medical equipment. The delivery of the trucks comes at a time when the regional hospitals and lower health facilities have been lacking tools to use in maintaining the medical equipment.
‘We need the tools to calibrate the machines. The trucks have extra tools which we did not have at the hospital workshops,' Eng Mary Musoke the head of regional medical equipment maintenance workshop said when the health ministry was handing over the two trucks to directors to Masaka and Jinja hospitals.
These trucks were procured with support from the Uganda Health Systems Strengthening Project (UHSSP) which has been implemented by Health ministry with funding from the World Bank.
The permanent secretary from the health ministry Dr Diana Atwine said:
"The trucks have been procured to help functionalise and improve efficiency of the Regional Medical Equipment Workshops.
Biomedical engineers are expected to move to all health facilities within their respective catchment areas to provide preventive and corrective maintenance of medical equipment".
Atwine appealed to engineers not to misuse the trucks adding that they must have annual inventory updates of the tools' use. She added that recently they distributed two mobile workshop trucks to Moroto and Mubende regional hospitals.
Ten more regional Referral hospitals will also receive such trucks soon.
Masaka Hospital director, Dr Nathan Onyachi said, they have been facing a challenge of repairing medical equipment and yet they have a mandate to maintain the machines at lower health facilities,' Onyachi said
He revealed that they have been getting sh160m annually for maintenance of the equipment but the money was not enough, adding that repairing one machine can cost sh20m.