By James Alomu
Residents of Kigandani Cell in Kengere Ward, Soroti City East Division, have raised concerns over what they describe as poor health service delivery at Soroti Regional Referral Hospital
The concerns were raised during a community engagement meeting organized by Community Power Voices (CPV), an advocacy group working under AHF Uganda Cares to promote improved public service delivery.
During the meeting, several residents alleged that they have encountered numerous challenges at the hospital, including being asked to pay for medical services, shortages of essential medicines, selective treatment, and inadequate medical attention.
One resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, claimed that patients seeking treatment for malaria are sometimes referred to private clinics instead of receiving medication available at the government facility.
"On several occasions, when you visit the health facility to test for malaria, the nurses send you to outside clinics instead of providing drugs supplied by the government. Please consider us as citizens who deserve government services," the resident said.
Another resident, Yokosofasi Okurut, alleged that access to services at the referral hospital is sometimes influenced by personal connections.
Okurut recounted an incident in which an expectant mother allegedly lost her life after being asked to vacate her hospital bed for another patient who had reportedly offered money to attendants.
According to Okurut, the alleged negligence resulted in the deaths of both the mother and her newborn baby.
Another resident, Rashid Okello, claimed that some patients are referred to specific private clinics to purchase prescribed medicines.
"One time, I was sent to buy drugs from a certain clinic outside the hospital. When I returned, the doctor refused to administer the medicine, saying he wanted a receipt from a particular clinic. I was left wondering how a government hospital operates," Okello alleged.
Some residents also appealed to the government to review the malaria medicines supplied to public health facilities, claiming that Coartem, which is commonly available, is no longer effective in treating the disease.
They further alleged that the distribution of mosquito nets has been inadequate and unfair, leaving many vulnerable households without protection.
Beyond healthcare, residents also expressed concern over poor sanitation in Kigandani Cell, citing inadequate garbage collection and a lack of sufficient public toilets.
They said the situation has contributed to open defecation and indiscriminate waste disposal, increasing the community's risk of disease outbreaks such as cholera.
According to findings presented during the engagement, some of the area's challenges have been compounded by the absence of a substantive Local Council I (LC I) leadership. Residents said this has contributed to insecurity and limited access to government programmes such as the Parish Development Model (PDM) and cattle compensation initiatives.
Kigandani Cell was among the areas that did not participate in the recently conducted LC I elections due to unresolved disagreements among residents.
Speaking during the meeting, Community Power Voices Chairperson Stephen Olebe pledged to engage the relevant duty bearers and provide feedback to the community on actions taken to address the concerns raised.
Our efforts to obtain comments from the hospital administration and respective duty bearers were futile by press time.
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