By Catherine Anena
Hon. Jane Ruth Aceng Ocero please verify these claims. See what can be done. Am sharing as is here below. Obtained from another forum. If true, we pray that these weaknesses in our health system be addressed.
I’ve been informed that patients suspected to have covid 19 are being tossed around from hospital to hospital. With my friends’ consent, I would like to forward these messages from them to you. I haven’t found myself in a similar situation yet but with the increasing numbers of covid cases, it might be just a matter of time. It’s also really unfair to patients and I would be glad if the issue is addressed.
Kindly requesting for advice and clarification on referral process for patients suspected to have covid. Thank you.
*My miserable day today*.
36/M works in adjumani, travels to masaka for burial 3 days ago has a history of fevers and arthralgia after the burial managed in a masaka for malaria and typhoid on artesunate and ceftriaxone without improvement presents to imc Entebbe with dry cough, chest pain and dyspnea, spo2 is 82% and has coarse crackles bilaterally, no fever and no history of chronic respiratory disease or other chronic diseases.
We isolate the guy, put on oxygen contact covid response team, Entebbe grade b which is just opposite outrightly tells us they want nothing to do with the guy as they are at full capacity, I contact a friend at uvri who agrees to take guy’s sample and run it through express as long as I transport him as all ambulances are not functioning at the moment, I agree, his samples are taken now we are stuck with the patient in a primarily opd clinic, grade B covid task force head has rejected him. He advises us to transfer him to ihk since we are affiliated.
We contact ihk which rejects to take him in all managers tell me I am on my own. I call city ambulance, they agree to take him to an in patient hospital, all of which reject him upon hearing that he has a pneumonia and is oxygen dependant, they can only take him in if he has a covid certificate showing he is negative, this is what nsambya, rubaga, Mengo, kisubi tell us.
City ambulance decides to transfer to kiruddu as mulago only receives patients with positive covid results not pending ones, kiruddu says their isolation in patient is full, they turn back the ambulance, I go to Entebbe grade B and plead for space from a one Dr nsereko who heads the task force his hospital is not even full, he finally has mercy and agrees to give us 1 bed and city ambulance returns from Kampala and puts the patient at grade b, patient seen at imc at 9am, gets space in Entebbe at 830pm, his spo2 is 79% even on oxygen by now, I had also given salbactamox and hydrocortisone, I knew he had already not improved on cef at masaka but you cannot just look at the patient, I don’t think I got exposed coz I was cautious and had ppe, but imagine such a frustration. Just testing a patient is a war.
*Second case*
I have been requested to share a narrative of yesterday’s Covid suspect recieved at Norvik hospital and below is the summary;
The patient reported at the hospital yesterday at around 5 pm and according to the medical personnel on the ground, the patient respiratory distress with all other signs of the Covid symptoms.
Having no isolation unit in our facility caused the team to organize an immediate referral process to mulago hospital.
Upon reaching mulago, the ambulance team was bounced to kiruddu
The kiruddu team rejected the patient and we were forced to seek for help from UHF who advised us to take the patient to Naguru and confirmed that they had secured an isolation unit for the patient.
The Naguru team rejected the patient upon arrival of the team and his family.
Since it was approaching around 1 am the family had lost hope and they requested the team to drop them back to their home.
The team that left the hospital at a half past 6 pm returned after midnight.
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