Board decries engagement of non-professionals in health records, information services

The Health Records Officers Registration Board of Nigeria (HRORBN) has expressed concern over the engagement of unqualified persons for health records and information services by government and other stakeholders in the country. The registrar of the  board, Alhaji Ibrahim Mohammed Mami, made the call yesterday when the Minister of State for Health, Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora, […]

The Health Records Officers Registration Board of Nigeria (HRORBN) has expressed concern over the engagement of unqualified persons for health records and information services by government and other stakeholders in the country.

The registrar of the  board, Alhaji Ibrahim Mohammed Mami, made the call yesterday when the Minister of State for Health, Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora, visited the board in Abuja .

He said Decree 39 of 1989 ( now CAP H2 2004 LFN) chapter 11 activities 6 stated that all health information establishments or institutions must be headed by health records and information practitioners. He said the situation on ground, however, is far from that as there was no leadership position allocated to health records and information professionals in the three tiers of government.

Mami said the non-inclusion of health records professionals in the health data consultation committee at all levels was another challenge, adding that their involvement would facilitate effective implementation and decision making.

While calling on the minister to assist in providing office accommodation for the board, he said lack of BSc programmes in health records and information in conventional universities caused high financial burden for career development as many practitioners had to travel to Niger and Benin Republic.

He said the board has embarked on a number of programmes aimed at improving  productivity, diversification and maintaining professional standards.

Minister of State, Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora, promised to help the board tackle its challenges.

He said health record officers work to generate information from data, and the health system relied on the data for monitoring, planning, evaluation and for measuring progress.