• Official says patients not being referred outside county as the equipment is on course.
• CT scan building complete, officers to be trained
The medical equipment delivered to Busia county through the national government are being put into good use, Busia deputy superintendent Amdala Emukule has said.
Speaking on Wednesday, Emukule said despite the delay in the take-off, “the programme will change the landscape of service provision at Busia County Referral hospital.”
He spoke to the County Development Implementation Coordination Committee at the facility.
Patients used to be referred to Kisumu, Kakamega and Eldoret in the past due to lack of certain equipment.
Emukule said construction of the CT scan building is complete, adding that a megascope contracting company is fixing the machine.
“Our CT scan facility is complete, only training remains and we are planning to do it from Tuesday next week,” he said.
Three officers had been invited for the training.
The superintendent said radiation protection assessment will be carried out to ascertain whether the building is safe for the users and the general public before it is officially launched.
The official pointed out that the availability of a radiology machine had increased the number of patients to 14,000 per month. It will be the highest revenue earner, followed by the pharmacy and laboratory.
Emukule said they were able to see five patients per week since the launch of the dialysis machine last year. About 280 sessions have been done.
Patients have flooded in from Uganda.
He deplored the staff shortage, saying the facility had only five radiographers.
“Now with an additional job, a CT scan, there will be another challenge," Emukule said.
They had tried to reduce the waiting time but the number of patients keeps increasing, he added.
The radiologist cited lack of consumables as a challenge adding that they at times stay for more than three months without films.
“From last November to February this year, we did not have X-ray films because the supplier had not been paid."
The doctor also cited frequent power outages but said the facility had automatic generators as backup.
The Managed Equipment Services Programme was introduced by the national government in 2015 across 98 health facilities with a view of improving health service provision.
The Sh38 billion programme was received with negative criticism by a number of county governments which were expected to pay Sh200 million per year for leasing the equipment.
Busia received a renal unit, five dialysis machines, digital X-ray machines, a mammogram for breast cancer screening, an ultrasound scanner, a dental machine and a CT scan.
(Edited by R.Wamochie)