Is waiting an African thing? I have been rather fustrated this morning at the level of snail business at my work place, well it so happens that we had one doctor on duty and he had to attend to all the patients(safe to note he is Korean) In the midst of such a crisis, the doctor had to be in for a procedure that rather takes more time than seeing one patient does. With a queue of about seven patients, there before my very eyes, I knew waiting is not a thing for all Nationalities. I was tired of waiting for the doctor, who on a rther safe side had to take his time and work on the patient to their satisfaction. Yet, I died inside knowing that these waiting patients also had a desperate need that needed his attention.
Now, I am terrible with patience and alot of times, I find an irritation in the wait. But in the face of a patient..in Uganda, how long should the wait be? In a country where a patient's health is subject to the mood of the attendant or the doctor, how long should the wait be? Should we do away with emergencies in the event that we find no reason to make our systems run faster than we have them run.
I was brought back, face to face with the reality of the sham of service delivery in our Nation. The reality that a child, mother and any one could die so easily to unpreventable circumstances. I was left stuck in such a system for two hours and even though I was on the service end of the system, I was disgusted to the brim. I wanted to thelp, yet I was caught between the dead end.( Iam not a doctor)
Health care then, is just not a problem for National refferal hospitals but for Private hospitals as well. It is a disease eating away the fabric of service delivery in the institutions that look after our heslth and maybe in due time, there will be less to look forward to in the many service providers that have infested our country with sham unqualifying hospitals. Today, I stand in such service and today, I feel the plight of the client , who out of their fustration have to wait to get served for more than normal hours of waiting.
Waiting as normal as it is, brings forth our impatience when it is streched beyond normal. I hope in due time, things will change around here and the around the country as well.(time check: 12:30 pm, most patients have gone and the doctor is seeing his third patient for the day.
Now, I am terrible with patience and alot of times, I find an irritation in the wait. But in the face of a patient..in Uganda, how long should the wait be? In a country where a patient's health is subject to the mood of the attendant or the doctor, how long should the wait be? Should we do away with emergencies in the event that we find no reason to make our systems run faster than we have them run.
I was brought back, face to face with the reality of the sham of service delivery in our Nation. The reality that a child, mother and any one could die so easily to unpreventable circumstances. I was left stuck in such a system for two hours and even though I was on the service end of the system, I was disgusted to the brim. I wanted to thelp, yet I was caught between the dead end.( Iam not a doctor)
Health care then, is just not a problem for National refferal hospitals but for Private hospitals as well. It is a disease eating away the fabric of service delivery in the institutions that look after our heslth and maybe in due time, there will be less to look forward to in the many service providers that have infested our country with sham unqualifying hospitals. Today, I stand in such service and today, I feel the plight of the client , who out of their fustration have to wait to get served for more than normal hours of waiting.
Waiting as normal as it is, brings forth our impatience when it is streched beyond normal. I hope in due time, things will change around here and the around the country as well.(time check: 12:30 pm, most patients have gone and the doctor is seeing his third patient for the day.
