Namanya Sheila, a city businesswoman dealing in cosmetics didn’t slip in her bathroom and die as earlier proclaimed.
This was a narrative engineered by Najjera Hospital after neglecting the patient who was taken to the facility to seek medical attention following a pneumonia attack, says close friend who had accompanied the deceased.
She later died seated in a wheelchair after hours of waiting for a doctor who instead instructed his interns to attend to her.
What Exactly Happened?
On the night of Sunday May 31, towards Midnight the deceased (Sheila Namanya) rang a neighbour since she was not feeling well after developing a breathing complication while at residence in Najjera, a Kampala suburb.
The neigbour looked for a boda boda which transported them to Najjera Hospital in the vicinity.
Upon reaching the hospital, Sheila’s neighbour notified her close friend identified as Brendah who immediately showed up.
While waiting for the doctor, the deceased instructed her friend- Brendah to return to her house and bring her juice and something to cover her. After overly waiting, the doctor came and assessed her condition saying it wasn’t worrying.
He then instructed his interns to admit the patient as he returns. He didn’t come back. He instead kept instructing the interns on phone to administer some treatment.
At around 2am as she was chatting with her friend Brendah, she started developing serious breathing complications. Efforts to reach a doctor remained futile.
The interns at the facility instead put for her an electric fan to help her catch a breath. But forgetting she had pneumonia, Sheila Namanya died in a wheelchair waiting for a doctor.
How the narrative immediately changed that she had fallen in her bathroom shocked her friends particularly Brenda who was present in hospital.
Brendah has since taken to Facebook to castigate Najjera Hospital.
“Life oh Life, when you are planning for the Best but God is planning the other way, it hurts when a loved one Dies of Negligence. To the Doctors if you can’t handle one’s situation Refer them other than being blamed for what you would have controlled. secondly if you Run a hospital please avoid leaving Juniors and student nurses at night shift at least leave a highly qualified Doctor to attend to emergencies…May you find peace internally Namanya Sheila,” Brendah’s facebook post reads.
Sheila Namanya was laid to rest on Tuesday in Kitagata, Sheema District.
This is not the first time Najjera Hospital is being accused of negligence. In 2018 Lonah Nsereko, a sister to former Miss Uganda Stellah Nantumbwe died under unclear circumstances at the facility.
Reports indicated that Lonah a victim of domestic violence was rushed to the hospital after she had been battered by the husband. She died moments after admission. But the hospital indicated Lonah lost battle to heart failure.
Our efforts to talk to Najjera Hospital management were unsuccessful by the time of filing this report.
