Dr Bill and Gail Tams with the staff at the Matuwa Clinic

Day 1 The Matuwa clinic is in stunning Ugandan countryside, 5000 feet up Mount Elgon. We travelled along an almost impassible road past recent mudslides to reach the clinic. In spite of the remote location, there are people everywhere and little houses, bandas and shacks all over the mountainside. For the people living here, this clinic is their nearest health outpost, where they come for all their medical needs including midwifery. Two babies were born here the night we arrived! Computer update with staff and medical clinic starts at 9 in the morning.

Baby born on the night of our arrival

Day 2
One of the babies delivered last night is very ill and he lies swaddled in thick blankets next to a paraffin lamp- no incubators here. Bill refers him down the mountain to another health facility where they have more resources.There are loads of patients today, an antenatal clinic and children's vaccinations being given as well. Bill sees all the patients! I (Gail) spend time with staff to observe how they are using EMR4DW and share ideas for changes both with the clinic systems and using EMR4DW.

A family we visited on Outreach up the mountain with the CHE

Day 3
Rain, rain, rain, mud, mud and more mud! The soil (mud!) here is very red. It's a good job we had some wellies as we slipped down, then uphill on Outreach with the Community Health Educators (CHE). The CHE's are targeting areas of need as highlighted by EMR4DW. The people here are subsistence farmers and we walked past tiny plots of onions, greens, maize, coffee, cassava and beans under the bananas. Coffee and onions are the only cash crop. The other vegetables are grown to eat. The people here are struggling to produce enough food. Life here, is probably as hard as it gets.

Gail with John at Station One

Day 4
Last month the clinic had computer problems. This was our first software problem with any of our clinics after three years of use in harsh conditions. The master computer was taken by motorcycle to the town of Mbale, which is a 2-3 hour trip over dirt road. Julius, from the clinic, was able to link up via the internet in Mbale with Jason in the UK from Onyx (our software providers) and within two hours the problem was fixed! We were keen to find out if there had been any problems since and things are still running smoothly.During our trip, Bill has been supporting the staff and working as a doctor at the clinic. I have been able to support the staff to use EMR4DW. At Station One, the patients are registered onto the electronic records or if they are a returning patient, their details are checked.

Dr Bill with Mark a clinician at the clinic

Day 5
On our final day, we held an all staff meeting to give feedback, ideas and suggestions to maximise use of EMR4DW. Part of the reason for our visit is to improve the system to make it as useful as possible for all users. The staff at the Matuwa clinic are a very professional team and also skilled at using the system. We have both enjoyed our time at the clinic and feel privileged to have met the wonderful members of staff here.

Back down the mountain to Bumwalukani now. Our next blog from there will be posted soon.
Gail Tams