Table 2. Compliance with WHO standards for surgical workforcea and essential supplies and infrastructureb in hospitals performing major surgery in 14 districts of south-western Uganda, 2007.
| Resource | Hospitals that always meet WHO standards for major surgery |
||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Government Health Centres IV (n = 4) |
Government district hospitals (n = 8a or n = 9b) |
NGO/mission hospitals (n = 12) |
Government regional referral hospitals (n = 3) |
||||||||
| No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | ||||
| Personnel | |||||||||||
| Trained surgeon (excluding medical officers) | 0 | 0 | 3 | 33 | 8 | 67 | 3 | 100 | |||
| Trained anaesthetist | 3 | 75 | 9 | 100 | 10 | 83 | 3 | 100 | |||
| Drugs | |||||||||||
| Ketamine | 4 | 100 | 8 | 100 | 12 | 100 | 2 | 67 | |||
| Local anaesthetic | 3 | 75 | 8 | 100 | 11 | 92 | 3 | 100 | |||
| Thiopentone | 1 | 25 | 5 | 63 | 10 | 83 | 1 | 3 | |||
| Suxamethonium | 1 | 25 | 4 | 50 | 11 | 92 | 3 | 100 | |||
| Volatile agent | 3 | 75 | 6 | 75 | 12 | 100 | 3 | 100 | |||
| Opioid | 3 | 75 | 3 | 38 | 12 | 100 | 1 | 33 | |||
| Adrenaline | 3 | 75 | 6 | 75 | 12 | 100 | 2 | 67 | |||
| Vasoconstrictor | 3 | 75 | 5 | 63 | 11 | 92 | 2 | 67 | |||
| Anaesthetic equipment | |||||||||||
| Child anaesthesia delivery system | 3 | 75 | 8 | 100 | 11 | 92 | 3 | 100 | |||
| Child facemask | 3 | 75 | 8 | 100 | 12 | 100 | 3 | 100 | |||
| Laryngoscope | 3 | 75 | 7 | 88 | 12 | 100 | 3 | 100 | |||
| Child laryngoscope | 2 | 50 | 5 | 50 | 12 | 100 | 3 | 100 | |||
| Pulse oximeter | 0 | 0 | 2 | 25 | 8 | 67 | 3 | 100 | |||
| Suction | 2 | 50 | 6 | 75 | 12 | 100 | 3 | 100 | |||
| Anaesthetic disposables | |||||||||||
| Sterile gloves | 2 | 50 | 8 | 100 | 11 | 92 | 1 | 33 | |||
| Examination (non-sterile) gloves | 2 | 50 | 3 | 38 | 6 | 50 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Child oropharyngeal airway | 3 | 75 | 5 | 63 | 10 | 83 | 2 | 67 | |||
| Child tracheal tubes | 1 | 25 | 6 | 75 | 12 | 100 | 3 | 100 | |||
| Spinal needles | 3 | 75 | 8 | 100 | 11 | 92 | 3 | 100 | |||
| General facilities for emergency surgery | |||||||||||
| Electricity (with backup generator) | 1 | 25 | 5 | 63 | 11 | 100 | 2 | 100 | |||
| Running water | 3 | 75 | 4 | 50 | 9 | 75 | 3 | 100 | |||
| Facilities to measure haemoglobin | 3 | 75 | 5 | 63 | 8 | 67 | 1 | 33 | |||
| Facilities to measure blood sugar | 2 | 50 | 4 | 50 | 7 | 58 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Blood for transfusion | 1 | 25 | 2 | 25 | 4 | 33 | 2 | 67 | |||
NGO, nongovernmental organization; WHO, World Health Organization.
a Information on workforce obtained from 29 hospitals.
b Information on essential supplies and infrastructure obtained from 28 hospitals. The private hospital reached all standards except for sterile/non-sterile gloves (national shortage) and the recommended backup generator for the operating theatre.