Senior House officers across the country have decided to officially go on strike starting tomorrow, February 19, 2023, over failure to clear their arrears for over four months.
Some of the SHOs have gone eight months without pay making it hard to continue with service delivery in these hospitals
Senior House Officers are qualified Senior Medical Doctors duly registered with the Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioners Council who are undergoing Postgraduate work-study training to become specialists in various specialties of medicine.
According to the President of the Senior House Officers Dr Robert Lubega, “A typical day of an SHO starts at 6.00 am with ward rounds, many head to theatre and perform lifesaving procedures on patients that they had to prepare the previous day. Evening ward rounds follow with a section doing overnight call duty on a rotational basis.”
Dr. Lubega says that these also train, mentor and supervise the less experienced intern doctors and medical students.
According to an SHO Policy brief by Dr. Ekwaro Obuku in 2016, SHOs provide over 63% of the hospitals doctor’s workforce at Mulago and Mbarara Referral Hospitals which was estimated at 1,101,311 patients–doctor consultations & treatment in 2014, (25,000 were childbirths).
As of today, a total of 692 SHOs and fellows are based in Mulago NRH, Kawempe RRH, Kiruddu NRH, Mbarara RRH, Kabale RRH and Mbale RRH.
These SHOs were admitted under Makerere University College of Health Sciences, Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Kabale University and Busitema University while the fellows are admitted under the College of Surgeons of East, Central and Southern Africa (COSECSA).
The vacancy rate for specialist for doctors is 70% which means that the country still needs more specialists.
However, despite providing critical manpower to the hospitals amidst challenges of inadequate medical supplies and sundries, the SHOs haven't been paid their allowances since November 2022 with some having last received their payment in October 2022.
An SHO receives shillings 2.5 million.
It is against this background that SHOs and Fellows Nationwide Resolved to lay down their tools effective Monday 19th, 2023 at 00:00Hrs until all SHOs and fellows from Year 1 onwards be paid their allowance arrears from October 2022 to date before resumption of duty without discrimination.