Mulago Hospital Has No Standard Ambulances! Auditor General Exposes Old Fleet Breaking Down Frequently  

By Aggrey Baba

Mulago Hospital has no Type B or Type C ambulances, leaving the country’s biggest public hospital with an ageing fleet of basic emergency vehicles that are reportedly breaking down constantly, an audit has revealed.

The Auditor General’s report for the 2024/25 financial year found that all four hospital-owned ambulances inspected were Type A vehicles, designed to transport patients who do not require medical or nursing care while on the way to hospital.

Even more disturbing, the AG reported that the four ambulances were old and experienced constant breakdowns, raising serious questions about Mulago’s ability to transport patients requiring medical attention during emergencies.

The shocking findings came under scrutiny on Monday, when Mulago Hospital bosses appeared before Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to respond to queries in the Auditor General’s report. Full PAC inquiry session can be viewed in video form via this YouTube link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npmOMjV31Xw

Bunyole West MP James Waluswaka challenged the hospital’s ambulance arrangements, forcing Accounting Officer Dr Rosemary Byanyima to explain how the facility handles patient transportation.

Byanyima told the committee that Mulago’s ambulances are mainly used to move patients within the hospital campus, while the Ministry of Health’s ambulance system is responsible for bringing patients to the national referral hospital.

She further disclosed that the hospital has provided for the purchase of two Type B ambulances in the current financial year.

But the explanation leaves a critical question, that, why has a national referral hospital handling complicated medical cases from across Uganda continued without its own Type B and Type C ambulances?

The committee also examined the utilization of Mulago’s 128-slice CT scanner, which the AG found was conducting an average of only 12 scans daily against a stated capacity of 40.

Byanyima told MPs that a CT scan costs UGX150,000, although emergency patients receive the service without charge.

This expose serious questions about the hospital’s ambulance capacity, equipment utilization and ability to deliver essential services, with Parliament now scrutinizing the explanations offered by its management. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).