On Saturday after suspending their industrial action, the doctors announced that they would go back to work immediately. “Doctors will return to hospitals starting as soon as possible to attend to patients.” Said, Dr. Ekwaro Obuku-President-Uganda Medical Association. NTV visited a number of public hospitals to find out whether the doctors had honored their word. In most facilities our cameras we denied access but we secretly managed to get pictures of the situation inside. At Kiruddu General Hospital we met only one patient at the Out Patients’ Department waiting bay. Although this man declined to speak on camera, he told us that he had suffered from pain in his leg since the doctors went on strike and upon getting news of the suspension of the doctors’ strike he came to the hospital hoping to receive treatment. We saw him painfully walk back home in disappointment.
Other waiting bays were completely empty. Now, this is the reception where we expect much of the help in any hospital but I see nobody to attend to patients who may choose to come today. We could not locate the UPDF doctors who were deployed at the facility to help alleviate the situation during the doctors’ strike. The Army was not available for a comment. At some point, we saw Ambulances arrive with patients at the emergency station and a skeleton staff on duty were turned to receive them.
At Kawempe General Referral Hospital, we found scores of patients that were hardly being attended to. They revealed that most expectant mothers were being given special attention. Dr. Ekwaro Obuku, the President of the Uganda Medical Association told us on the phone that the absence of essential supplies could have led to the situation. “You are aware that Mulago Hospital and its satellite sites were suffering from an acute shortage of what they need to work with so that alone could delay the tendency of reporting.” However, he was positive that doctors would show up for work over the next few days. “However, we are going to move around the country actively to encourage doctors to report.”
In other places like Masaka, the situation was different with many doctors reporting to work. Children and expectant mothers were being given priority while the intern doctors served those in the Out Patient Department. “The intern doctors have been helping us so much.” Patients here told NTV that the supplies such as medicines were scarce. “There is no help in the hospital because we even buy the medicines from private pharmacies.” One of the government’s promises to the doctors as per of the negotiations to end the strike was passing of the supplementary budget of 41 billion shillings to cater for the supplies. “We have added 41 billion to the medical stores to handle issues of these supplies.” Dr. Obuku said they would meet donors and the Parliament to emphasize their major points of the contention. The doctors also wanted to meet the President as promised. For now, patients still haad to hang on as doctors slowly returned to work.
