The Ministry of Health is set to introduce stricter standing orders for health professionals in a bold move to tackle widespread absenteeism, social media misuse, and declining work ethics among medical personnel.
The announcement was made by Dr. Diana Atwine, the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Health, during the commissioning of the refurbished Bulamagi Health Centre III in Iganga District — a facility upgraded under a partnership between the Ministry, the World Health Organisation (WHO), and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA).
Dr. Atwine expressed deep concern over what she described as “rampant absenteeism and presentism” — a term she used to describe health workers who report to duty but remain idle or spend working hours engaged in non-productive activities like chatting on social media.
“We know that the standing orders require health workers to be on duty from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, but many are either absent or mentally checked out,” Dr. Atwine said.
“We even have a WhatsApp group for doctors, and you’ll find some of them posting messages from morning till evening. One wonders — when do they actually work?”
She also criticized the misuse of the phrase “being on call,” noting that some doctors interpret it as a license to stay home unless summoned by junior staff. “Being on call doesn’t mean relaxing at home — it means being physically available at the health facility,” she emphasized.
According to Dr. Daniel Kyabayinze, Director of Public Health at the Ministry, the revised standing orders will be output-based and centered on key performance indicators (KPIs) to objectively evaluate a health worker’s commitment and productivity.
“We’re introducing a system that tracks how many days a doctor has worked out of the expected 22 per month, how many patients they’ve reviewed, how many referrals they’ve made, and how many surgeries — like C-sections — they’ve performed,” Dr. Kyabayinze said.
These metrics will be fed into a centralized monitoring system within the Ministry to improve oversight and ensure better service delivery, particularly in underperforming rural facilities.
Dr. Atwine linked the high number of unnecessary referrals from lower health centers to absenteeism, which she said was directly contributing to maternal and neonatal deaths.
“It’s unacceptable for a facility with a functioning theatre and qualified doctors to refer a mother with a ruptured cervix. That delay causes complications and sometimes death — and it happens because doctors are simply not present,” she said.
She clarified that the new standing orders are not meant to punish health workers but to restore professionalism, discipline, and accountability in the health sector. “We must return to the ethics and commitment we were taught in medical school. Ugandans deserve better. They deserve health workers who show up and do their job with integrity,” she added.
The Ministry’s announcement comes amid growing public frustration over poor service delivery, absentee staff, and underutilized medical infrastructure.
In recent years, several reports have highlighted inefficiencies across the public health system, particularly in rural areas where communities often struggle to access basic care.
The newly renovated Bulamagi Health Centre III, now equipped with improved infrastructure and staffing, is expected to serve as a model for how health centers can perform under the Ministry’s upcoming accountability framework.
With these reforms, the Ministry of Health hopes to reignite a culture of diligence and ensure that every public health worker delivers measurable, meaningful service to the communities they are mandated to serve.