Entebbe Hospital staffing at 21% as MPs warn of growing pressure on health services

What the report says

Entebbe Regional Referral Hospital is working with only 21.8% of its approved staffing structure, according to the report in Nile Post, as lawmakers raise concerns about rising pressure on health services and the strain on workers. The issue was highlighted in Parliament by Hon. Betty Ethel Naluyima, who said the staffing shortfall remains a serious challenge for the facility, which serves a growing catchment area.

The article says the hospital’s FY2024/25 performance report showed staffing at 21.8% of the new approved establishment, up from 15.2% after additional wage funding allowed recruitment to rise from 181 to 261 staff. Even so, the hospital still falls far short of the roughly 1,195 workers it says it needs. During the fourth quarter of FY2024/25, the facility handled more than 31,500 general outpatient visits, 3,424 admissions and 6,911 specialist outpatient cases, with bed occupancy at 88.7%.

Nile Post reports that the hospital’s workload covers patients from districts including Wakiso, Kampala and Mpigi, and that understaffing has been identified before in audits and parliamentary discussions. The outlet also linked the staffing pressure to a wider health-sector concern: a dispute over the deployment and welfare of medical interns, who can provide extra support but are not a substitute for permanent staff.

The report frames Entebbe’s situation as part of a broader workforce challenge in Uganda’s health system, where training more workers has not always translated into enough staff being recruited and retained in public hospitals.