Atwine Warns Clinical Officers Over Absenteeism, Threatens Phase-Out

The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Dr. Diana Atwine, has warned that the government may phase out Clinical Officers due to their persistent absenteeism.

Dr. Atwine, accompanied by senior health officials, including Dr. Daniel Kyabayinze, the Director of Public Health, and Dr. Henry Mwebesa, visited Mubende District to assess operations at Mubende Regional Referral Hospital.

During the visit, she inspected a newly constructed 240-bed facility, built at a cost of Shs 9.5 billion, which is awaiting official commissioning. However, she expressed concern over the number of doctors’ offices in the building, cautioning that they could encourage idleness instead of patient care.

“I am worried about the number of offices in the building. It seems medical workers will spend most of their time in offices instead of attending to patients,” Dr. Atwine said.

Addressing hospital staff, she commended their efforts but criticized Clinical Officers for frequent absenteeism.

“I want this to be on record. Clinical Officers, we are tired of your absenteeism. You come at noon, work for two hours, and leave. The following week, you are in the village, and the next week, you are back at work. You need to change, or else we will phase you out,” she warned.

She also raised concerns about incompetence among some Clinical Officers.

“Some are prescribing the wrong medication because they do not understand what they are doing. You go to the ward and find that they have given the wrong medicine,” she added.

Dr. Atwine further emphasized the need for integration among medical workers at the hospital.

“I have discussed integration with the director several times, and now it is the way forward. I want to emphasize that we must integrate. These changes are important eye-openers, and we must focus on ensuring that services are integrated and that we use the same resources to achieve more,” she said.

Hospital director Emmanuel Batiibwe welcomed Dr. Atwine’s visit, saying her guidance had given them renewed hope.

“We have been engaging with the Permanent Secretary, and we managed to share our needs with her. We are hopeful that they will be addressed,” Batiibwe said.

He added that the visit provided an opportunity to highlight the hospital’s challenges, particularly congestion.

“Take congestion, for example. We all agree that we have too many patients here. Once our new facility is commissioned, we shall overcome these challenges,” he said.

Geoffrey Mawa, the Deputy Chief Administrative Officer, raised concerns about some sub-counties lacking Health Center III facilities.

“Madam PS, I thank the government for funding several health projects. However, we still have three sub-counties without Health Center III facilities,” Mawa said.

The Deputy Resident District Commissioner for Mubende, Abubaker Birungi, announced that the Office of the President would begin monitoring government health facilities to ensure staff attendance.

“We want to ensure that our medical workers are present at their stations because the Permanent Secretary has directed us to monitor them,” Birungi said.

Mubende Regional Referral Hospital serves more than eight districts, including the five major districts in the Wamala region.