The Director of Hoima Regional Referral Hospital, Dr. Ibrahim Bwaga has informed Parliament that within a year, 57 women died during labour with 45 of these women dying within 30minutes after arriving at the hospital due to the long distances they walk to access maternal services.
He made the revelation while appearing before Parliament’s Health Committee where he had appeared to present Hoima Hospital’s proposals for the 2025/26 Budget Framework Paper, where he also discussed the 2023/24 physical performance of the Hospital.
He revealed that some communities reject advise to transport patients to Kampala for Intensive Care Services, informing the hospital of their readiness to bury their loved ones, instead of transporting them to Kampala to ICU care.
“There is that column for maternal deaths where the figure of 57 is indicated, of the 57 maternal deaths, 45 maternal deaths happened within 30minutes of arrival at Hoima Regional Referral Hospital. These are the patients that move for more than 100Kms because doctors here you know, for a patient who has been operated 3 times, has be delivered by caesarian section, so what do you expect her to do when she is 100Km away from the district that hasn’t operationalized its theatre? So, by the time they come, sometimes it is too late,” said Dr. Bwaga.
He also welcomed Government’s move of establishing an Intensive Care Unit at Hoima Hospital, saying this will go a long way in saving lives and reducing the emotional toll the medical workers endure, trying to counsel and convince residents to transport their patients for such services in Mulago Hospital, as many have preferred to give up on these patients than have them transported to Kampala.
“Many of the people in the community say, leave the patient here, let her die, we are ready to burry and you have to convince them why they have to go. Have you been in that situation? So, the coming of this ICU gives hope to Bunyoro region and while it isn’t yet equipped, we know that the equipment is yet to be shipped and commissioning will happen only after it has been equipped and hopefully the human resource improves,” Dr. Bwaga added.
He explained that currently, when you look at the statistics from Bunyoro region in the recent past, many of the patients that are referred, are those patients that need ICU care where Hoima Hospital’s skill isn’t able to sustain life, because if a patient is just bleeding or having trauma of it is something that requires surgery, the obstetricians are able to do that.
“But there are patients who have renal failure and they are in coma, and they need to be managed in ICU with dialysis, such patients have been referred to the National Referral Hospital. Unfortunately, this calls for resources which we don’t have. And while we have these maternal deaths, but we also have those who survived and even when we don’t publish our numbers, but our numbers are second to Kawempe Regional Referral Hospital,” noted Dr. Bwaga.
According to Dr. Bwaga, there is need to construct a maternal and child ward to contain the congestion that has seen 3-5 babies share a single bed noting, “Among the key strategic areas that we think of, is to have the construction of the maternal and child health complex to house pediatrics, obstetrics and neonatal care, an operation theatre, gynecology.
