“We found out that other than treating diseases of the sick was not enough, it was necessary to go out and meet the community members through community outreaches by the Hospital specialists to attend to the non-communicable diseases by health education talks,” this quotation is gotten from the Director Fort Portal referral Hospital Dr. Florence Tuguminsiriza with the team from Ministry of Public Service who interviewed her about innovations that she had implemented since she last attended the leadership and management training at the Civil Service College.
Little did the team knew that Dr. Tuguminsiriza had moved a step further after the training in Leadership management that the skills she got had helped her to shape new face of the Hospital staff and generally the hygiene of the Hospital through involvement of stakeholders especially the community around the Hospital. Florence has embarked on the initiatives through the innovation of fighting the Kavera disposal in the hospital facility that had caused blockage of the only sewage drainage in the hospital. She ably boasts of having saving over fifteen million shillings after every three months budgeted to empty the sewage.
As if that is not enough fighting the Kavera menace is not an easy task since the patients and their helpers it is the most used package to carry items into the wards. “It started like is a joke when I announced that nobody should sell Kavera near the hospital or carry Kavera inside the hospital,” people laughed me off and even staff said that this was a lost battle.
Today nobody sells kavera near the hospital and the hospital staff have been sensitized on the dangers of the kavera. A focal person for arresting kavera at the gate has been identified and he does it with all the passion. While taking a walk through the neighbouring community who deal in selling a variety of items to the helpers of patients there is a belief that Dr. Florence had come to pick those failing her in Kavera disposal only to introduce us to them and allow us to take photographs and video record.
While still fighting the Kavera vice Florence says they have involve the local leadership through radio talkshows awareness programs. This has yielded fruits when the Tooro kingdom donated waste disposals tom the hospital this showed support to their cause and since given them greater momentum to move on with the fight.
Government free airtime allocated has been utilised by the hospital through the Resident District Commissioner who is at the centre of the radio programs where calls-in from the communities to get information on the Kavera campaign has contributed to the success of the hospital innovation.
Other innovations which the management team have embarked on include recently reduction of long queues and influx of patients in the hospital. Today community engagement initiatives have been designed through community outreaches targeted at prevention methods of diseases.
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