Akali HCII was upgraded into HCIII status on 1st July, 2021(Photo by Solomon Okabo)
Health workers at Akali Health Center III in Kwania district are under fire for leaving their patients in the hands of casual laborers. A monitoring report by Kwania District Health Department shows that workers at the facility examine, prescribe and treat patients due to negligence of health workers.
According to the report, despite being allocated 13 health workers, only five reports for duty. Kwania District Health and Education Secretary, Joan Abutu says that they were shocked to learn that health workers at Akali HCIII have neglected their duties and left it in the hands of causal laborers.
Vincent Otile, a resident of Amude C Village in Abwong parish, Akali Sub County, who uses the facility, confirmed that the indeed non- medical workers are the ones treating patients.
Eunice Aguti, another patient claims that the few health workers at the facility report late for duty and assign their duties to the security guards and porters. She called for government intervention to address the problem with the urgency it deserves.
One of the casual laborers confirmed to URN on condition of anonymity that they indeed examine patients, saying the health center in-charge Solomon Opara has on several occasions assigned him to do the job on grounds that he is training him. Opara could not be reached for comment by the time of filing this story.
However, Kwania District Health Officer Dr. Moses Ebong has denied claims that casual laborers prescribe treatment for patients at the facility. He, however, acknowledged that two workers were helping to take the records of patients at the facility due to staff shortage.
“Akali had six health workers that handle between 150-200 clients that visit the facility on weekly basis; the situation was made worse when the hospital in charge gotten a job at the central government reducing the numbers to five, but at the moment we have transferred more seven staffs there to calm down the situation.”
-URN
