Dr. John Bosco Nsubuga, Executive Director, Entebbe Regional Referral Hospital
Entebbe Regional Referral Hospital is grappling with low staffing, having 261 staff out of the required 1,195. The Hospital is mandated to serve 4.3million people from six districts.
The revelation was made by Dr. John Bosco Nsubuga, Executive Director, Entebbe Regional Referral Hospital while appearing before Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to respond to queries raised in the December 2024 Auditor General’s report.
“When it comes to the issues of human resource, last time at the beginning of the financial year, we had 181 staff employed, but we are also part of the allocation of more wage for us in the last financial year, and we were able to recruit more staff, and at the end of the last financial year, we had 261 staff recruited. So, an increase of 80 new staff in the hospital, and that brought our staffing levels from 15.2% to 21.8%. Our structure is 1,195,” Dr. Nsubuga said.
He added that Entebbe Regional Referral Hospital is mandated to offer improved health care services to districts of: Wakiso, Kampala, Mpigi, Butambala, Nakaseke, Gomba and also the travelers through Entebbe Airport and its catchment operation is 4.3million people.
The Public Accounts Committee was also informed that Entebbe Hospital lost 53 people following the outbreak of Monkey Pox, since the Hospital was serving as the main treatment facility, before the services were decentralised to other regional hospitals across the country.
“We also had an outbreak of M-pox, and this has had an impact also on our clinical services. The outbreak was declared in July 2024, and up to now, we have admitted about 3,461 patients, we have had 53 dead, and all the others have recovered. So now, M-pox initially was managed in a very different manner, because we have a national isolation unit, but now, the management has been decentralised and all the hospitals in our country are able to manage this. This has been really a challenge, but to see that we have managed it in a way to control it and manage this really is good,” explained Dr. Nsubuga.
Entebbe Regional Referral Hospital is also grappling with the limited bed capacity, with the facility having only 200 beds, against the 40 patients admitted weekly, thus leaving some patients with no beds to use during their stay at the facility.
Dr. Nsubuga explained, “We have 200 beds and these are not enough for us. This is one of the challenges that we have, is a limited space for our patients. In a day, we admit about between 30 to 40 patients and with a 200-bed capacity within a week, the hospital is full.”
The Committee was informed that in 2024, the Hospital saw 57,000 people in outpatient department and 10,500 people were admitted to the hospital.
