The High Court has ordered Kibuli Muslim Hospital and Dr Dickens Aturwanaho to compensate the family of a newborn baby with more than Shs147 million after finding that delays in medical attention, poor investigations and flaws in an emergency blood transfusion contributed to the child’s death.
Acting High Court Judge Bonny Isaac Teko ruled that the hospital and the doctor failed in their responsibility to provide proper care to Baby Jibreal Jumah Sewankambo, who died on October 9, 2018, only four days after being born through a caesarean section. The court said the medical team’s failures significantly affected the baby’s chances of survival.
Court documents show that Baby Jibreal’s mother, Kyofuna Jaridah, had been receiving antenatal services at Kibuli Muslim Hospital from August 2018, where she was monitored by Dr Aturwanaho and other medical staff. Her pregnancy reportedly progressed normally, leading to a planned caesarean delivery.
The baby was delivered alive on October 5, 2018, and both mother and child were initially considered stable. However, on the night of October 6, the newborn developed breathing complications. Jaridah said she immediately sent someone to call for medical assistance, but no doctor attended to the baby until the following morning when he was moved to the neonatal nursery.
Justice Teko said the unexplained delay of nearly eight hours before the baby received meaningful medical assessment was unacceptable, especially considering that newborns can experience rapid deterioration. He noted that timely intervention and specialist review were critical in such a situation.
Doctors later discovered that the baby was suffering from anaemia and thrombocytopenia, prompting an emergency blood transfusion after compatible blood could not be obtained from the hospital or nearby facilities. Although the court accepted that the transfusion decision was made in an attempt to save the baby’s life, it found that the procedure was carried out below expected medical standards.
The court heard that important steps, including compatibility testing, infection screening, proper documentation of consent and use of appropriate transfusion equipment, were either missing or inadequately recorded. The judge also raised concerns about the involvement of a nurse whose training and supervision for such a high-risk procedure were questioned.
While the court rejected claims that the transfusion alone caused the baby’s death, Justice Teko ruled that the cumulative failures in diagnosis, monitoring and treatment contributed to the tragic outcome. Kibuli Muslim Hospital was held responsible for the actions of its staff, and Jaridah was awarded Shs147.37 million in damages, along with interest and costs of the case.
