Patients seeking treatment at Kotido general hospital were on Monday left stranded and unattended to for nearly six hours as they waited for the medical personnel to report to work.

There were over 500 patients at the outpatient department struggling to access one clinical officer who had just started attending to them at around 11am.

A number of other weak patients including school pupils were seen lying under the trees and on the verandas with limited hope of accessing medical treatment saying they were pushed away.

The patients who were all waiting in the queue say they arrived at the facility as early as 6am but claim no medical worker was available to attend to them.

Cue//…Vox pop Nga

Emmanuel Lokol the Kotido municipal deputy speaker who was also attending to a patient says the hospital in charge should identify the existing gaps and find lasting solutions.

Cue//…Lokol eng

Meanwhile, Peter Lonyia Jupiter, the Kotido West division LC3 Chairperson who had stayed at the hospital for 5 hours unattended to says the health workers usually report late for work.

Cue//…Lonyia Jupiter eng

The hospital in charge was unavailable for a comment but a health worker who preferred anonymity says the mess has been brought about by the staffing gap at the facility.

He says on a daily basis, the hospital receives about 1,000 people, forcing some of the support staff to lend a hand in some departments.

The facility was elevated to a general hospital status in 2021 but has since remained with the same staffing level of 48 workers, with only a few infrastructural upgrades.