Service delivery at Busia County Referral Hospital were paralyzed Thursday even as the area Governor Sospeter Ojaamong launched mass testing of Covid-19 suspects at the facility.
Speaking to the press after the official launch of the exercise, Busia County Secretary General of National Union of Clinical Officers Philemon Nakoche expressed concern that health service providers were not issued with face masks.
Nakoche said that health officers across the County were being issued with one face mask per day yet they need to use one of such item per patient.
“Once a face mask is stained during an operation, you need to change it immediately,” he said expressing concern that the facility did not issue any face mask to the service providers.
The Secretary further said that they will not risk their lives by working under unprotected area and later infect their families due to laxity by some officers.
“If they fail to provide face masks, then we will not report on duty by Monday,” he said.
He urged the County government to protect its health workers adding that they risked infecting other people not only with COVID 19 but other infectious diseases.
Juliet Adagala, one of the nurses at the facility reiterated that there was a challenge of face masks hence hampering service delivery.
Adagala urged the County government to provide not only face masks but other Personal Protective Equipment to health service providers.
We have a challenge of serving our patients due to lack of these items despite several of them having visited the facility very early,’ she said.
The facility has 450 workers including security guards and support staff.
Patients who spoke to the press expressed their disappointment, adding that the governor did not address the issue of health workers even after visiting the facility.
By Salome Alwanda
