The Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has accused Mulago hospital management for carelessness and negligence for their failure to collect medical charges from private patients who even include those from viable and rich companies.

Mulago hospital’s Executive Director Dr. Byarugaba Baterana

This was during the committee sitting where the hospital Executive Director, Dr. Byarugaba Baterana among other officials appeared to answer queries in the Auditor General’s report of 2013/14.

According to the report, the hospital failed to declare a tune of 1.2bn shillings as receivable from private patients.

Among the companies mentioned to have not paid their bills even after their patients had received treatment include Vision group, Bank of Uganda, Sheraton Hotel, parliament, ministry of Defense among others.

The Committee Chairperson whose is also MP Soroti district, Angelina Ossege blamed the hospital management for letting such high profiled entities consume services they don’t pay for yet this is not the case when it comes to handling the peasants.

The Auditor General notes that by the hospital’s failure to declare these receivables, it might lead to inappropriate accountability in case this money is paid at any time because of absence of any records.

Meanwhile, the hospital Executive Director Dr. Byarugaba Baterana threw MPs into laughter when he sympathised with the mentioned companies that they didn’t have money to pay the bills by the time of audit and they could not be denied services.