Marry Abur, aged 68, a resident of Pabit Cell in Purongo Town Council: Photo, SIMON WOKORACH
By Simon Wokorach
Nwoya: A section of locals in Nwoya District have faulted Anaka General Hospital for abandoning patients in what they describe as a health care crisis.
The concern was raised on September 29, 2026, during a community baraza conducted at Purongo Town Council in Nwoya County, organized by Nwoya District Local Government in partnership with The Hunger Project .
The dialogue brought together community members, technocrats, district officials, and some journalists from Northern Uganda Media Club, aiming to improve accountability on service delivery in the district.
However, key concerns were raised about poor health care services and poor road networks within the district, as well as a poor monitoring system for development projects.
Marry Abur, aged 68, a resident of Pabit Cell in Purongo Town Council, expressed frustration at failing to see the Doctor recently when she sought treatment for her swollen right leg.
“I arrived in the morning and waited until evening; nobody attended to me. When they called you on the phone, you entered, and I ended up not getting treatment,” Abur stated in the dialogue.
She adds” In the evening, one doctor came and said, ‘We can’t handle you. He referred me to another doctor who never came until I returned home.”
However, Abur had attended to a young girl who delivered on the road, whom she alleged was chased away from the hospital for failing to go with clothes and basic requirements for birth.
“The nurses told her to go home and pick up her mama kit, but she delivered before reaching home. She was supported by women around, and the baby came out safe,” Abur stated with frustration.
As Nwoya battles with the understaffing of health workers, the District Health Officer, Dr James Okello, says the practice contravenes medical ethics, describing it as isolated incidents and unfortunate.
He says the hospital is currently implementing the client satisfaction system adopted by the Ministry of Health, in which patients can directly give feedback after accessing health care services.
“Feedback like this is to make us check ourselves and to do better, but in the recent client satisfaction survey, Nwoya got 76% of patients who were satisfied with our services,” Dr Okello remarked.
However, of the recommended 673 health workers for Nwoya County, it only has 247 available health workers, leaving a wider gap of 64%, whose impact is reflected in poor health care services.
For instance, Anaka Hospital, which should have 343, only has 174, leaving a gap of 169, while Purongo Health Centre III, with a proposed 43 health workers, only has 17, with 26 yet to be recruited.
Dr Okello further noted that, while the staffing gap is affecting the health care services in the district, drug stockouts are yet another health care challenge the district is battling.
Through funding for primary health care, Anaka Hospital receives 137 million shillings every three months for daily operations, nearly 600 million per year.
The lower health facilities consist of health centre IIs (level two) and health centre III (level three) and receive 4.9 and 14.5 million shillings every three months for their daily operations.
Part of the funds established an oxygen plant for children at Anaka General Hospital in the 2025/2026 financial year, while Todora and Oruka health facilities got solar power to safely store drugs.
Meanwhile, in some health centers like Lungulu, drug stock-outs have persisted as the facility misses out on primary health care funds.
“The government is yet to take over Lungulu Health Centre. There are cases of stock-outs of drugs, but, at the moment, they are not receiving funding from primary health care,” Dr. Okello added.
The District Chief Administrative Officer Richard Matete said it was a wrong practice for a medical worker to have sent away an expectant mother who later delivered on the road on her way home.
He has urged the heads of departments in the district to strengthen monitoring and accountability on government programs.
