A nurse at Tororo Main Hospital in Uganda has been arrested and accused of abuse and negligence after the death of two babies in the neonatal unit.
The infants allegedly suffocated in an incubator after the nurse in question, who was supposed to be on duty, failed to turn up for work.
At a meeting between medical management and district authorities, Assistant Nursing Officer Justin Lugose was unable to provide a satisfactory explanation for her absence from duty on the day, and the arrest was ordered by the district chairperson.
On the day of the tragedy, she had apparently phoned her colleagues to report the death of her boyfriend, but her call “was not taken seriously”, reports Nile Post.
She also allegedly notified her superior about feeling unwell after learning of the death of her partner.
However, district chairperson John Okeya said negligence, particularly when it resulted in loss of life, could not be tolerated, and that it was not the first time the facility had been linked to negligence.
He said the absence of the officer from duty on 1 and 2 January forced the babies to stay on oxygen the whole day until they suffocated.
With a population of more than 2m people from Bukedi sub-region and across Kenya relying on the hospital, the case has raised questions about the state of service delivery in the facility, which has been a concern for years.
NilePost article – Nurse arrested after two newborn babies die at Tororo main hospital (Open access)
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