Uganda National Association of Private Hospitals (UNAPH)

Patient Safety in Private Hospitals of Uganda Introduction Uganda National Association of Private Hospitals (UNAPH) is the umbrella body of independent private hospitals and private health clinics in Uganda. Private hospitals and private health clinics are regulated by Ministry of Health through the respective medical councils.   UNAPH’s role among others includes the promotion, protection, representation and development of professional conduct of members and fostering ethical practice within the independent private health industry in Uganda. Patient safety is the prevention of avoidable errors and adverse effects to patients associated with healthcare. It emphasizes the reporting, analysis, and prevention of medical errors that often leads to adverse healthcare events. Patients are harmed while receiving care which result in prolonged hospitalization, loss of income, disability and litigation. Many patients acquire infections, suffer risks while in hospitals...

Position Statement on the Use of the Word “HOSPITALS” by UNAPH Contemporary English defines a Hospital as an institution providing medical and surgical treatment and nursing care for sick or injured people and, a clinic is a health care facility that is primarily devoted to the diagnosis and care of outpatients. When using African dialects, these two words often do not change, and a plain health consumer rarely distinguishes the two definitions when seeking for health services. If we go by African and Ugandan standards, most health clinics offer inpatient services which are meant for a hospital.   Uganda National Association of Private Hospitals (UNAPH) is a problem-based initiative where by the time it was founded (2006) there was no umbrella body for independent private health clinics and hospitals of which we had to use a conclusive word of Hospitals so to articulately promote our cause and by then we could not grade big hospital or small hospital or clinic bec...

He a lt h M a n ag e m e nt I n f o r m a ti o n S y s t e m ( H M I S ) for Independent Private Hospitals and Clinics in Uganda (Private-for-Profit Hospitals and Clinics) BACKGROUND Flow of data from private hospitals and health clinics to the Ministry of Health and Other Partners has been poor and management and utilization of HMIS has been inadequate. Majority of the reporting health units are government owned and PNFP faith-based hospitals implying that PFP or independent private health units are sometimes not represented and yet they have a significant role in healthcare delivery. Most Health workers do not appreciate the importance of HMIS. Based on that situation, there is need to establish a sector-based centralized HMIS for the PFP private health sub sector in Uganda which will be recognized and harmonized with the central government (MOH) HMIS System. The Healthcare Environment in Uganda         ...