Government touts new shift as more Ugandans abandon private clinics for public hospitals 

More Ugandans are increasingly abandoning private and private not-for-profit health facilities and turning to government hospitals and health centres, the Ministry of Health has revealed.

This shift, health officials say, is helping to drive congestion in the public system.

Appearing before Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee during scrutiny of the December 2025 Auditor General’s report, Health Ministry Permanent Secretary Dr Diana Atwine said the swelling crowds in public facilities are not only being caused by rapid population growth, but also by the fact that more patients now see government units as a better option. 

Atwiine attributed the rise in the number of patients in public health facilities to the improved services in Government hospitals and health centres

She revealed that some non for-profit health facilities have complained of losing customers to public health facilities.

“I don't really want to sound like I am blowing my trumpet, but what we are seeing now, and we have met religious leaders who are in charge of these private not-for-profits, they have complained that some of their patients are leaving their facilities and they are coming to our facilities,” she said

“I think they are coming more to our facilities. We are seeing more and more patients now coming than before in the private sector. And now, in the last assessment, we saw that the population that is accessing the government facilities has increased significantly, which has also contributed to the congestion,” said Dr. Atwine.

For years, many Ugandans leaned towards private health facilities because they were widely seen as faster, more responsive and easier to navigate. 

Research stretching back more than 15 years has repeatedly found that long waiting times, weak feedback systems and dissatisfaction with service quality were common complaints in public facilities, while private units tended to score better on attentiveness, staff attitude and speed of service.

A comparative Ugandan study found public facilities generally had longer waiting times than private ones, while a more recent study in eastern Uganda again found prolonged waiting times were more common at a public facility than at a private hospital. 

Another 2020 Uganda study on patient perspectives said people in both sectors valued health workers who listened and showed compassion, qualities often linked by patients to better care experiences. 

The emerging shift suggests that public confidence in government facilities may be improving, even as the pressure on those same facilities intensifies. 

Ministry officials have recently stressed the need for health workers in public units to provide timely, respectful and quality care, arguing that such practices are essential to maintaining trust.