‘Doctors should stop unecessary industrial actions’

Patients have been complaining about the drug revolving scheme in the hospital. How functional has the scheme been? You know too well that when the Federal Government introduced the Treasury Single Account (TSA), every money generated whether it is of drug revolving fund or from anywhere must go to TSA. There is nothing special about […]

Patients have been complaining about the drug revolving scheme in the hospital. How functional has the scheme been?

You know too well that when the Federal Government introduced the Treasury Single Account (TSA), every money generated whether it is of drug revolving fund or from anywhere must go to TSA. There is nothing special about TSA, so any money that is going there is utilized. 

Secondly, if you generate N5, 000 then you are looking for N10, 000, from which subhead do you get that money? If the pharmacy generates N5, 000 and they are looking for N10, 000 where do you get the money from? The drug suppliers claim that the hospital is owing them, the hospital cannot owe you. Suppliers are being paid, not that they are not being paid.

 We are paying and we will continue to pay, anybody who is being owed will be paid completely. I have vowed that this 2017 I want to clear as much as possible all debts owed to some of these people so that I will have peace. When I am leaving I leave in peace.

Doctors had alleged that the Committee of CMDs is responsible for the crisis in hospitals?

The crisis which  the doctors keep raising is that the CMDs do not cooperate with them.  They do not discuss with them. Every staff is a staff and as a chief executive ,you don’t just come and open the books and announce through television and radio that government has sent you some money for this or that. It is administratively wrong. 

Sometimes people have to know the basics, it is not everything you analyse to staff. Worse still, people who need positions are the people who instigate crisis in the hospital.

They are not only instigating resident doctors, they are instigating other staff. They blackmail you; write petitions to Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) the Police headquarters, media, every nook and cranny of the world.

 I have told doctors nationwide that I am ready to solve their problems as long as they are ready to stop striking unnecessarily. I will join the Federal government to solve their problems which are very minor as far as I am concerned. Abroad you pay school fees to be trained as a resident doctor. In Nigeria government pays you and trains you. As far as I am concerned it is a privilege and not a right because they are paid salary.

Patients in the hospital are also complaining of increase in charges, is the increase commensurate with the services they receive?

The Teaching hospital is the last hope of every man. We have three tiers of hospitals- primary, secondary and tertiary. A tertiary hospital should handle complicated cases and not malaria, not headache, not typhoid. But you can see that this hospital is virtually for every Tom Dick and Harry.

There is no way the rate of treatment will not increase if not the hospital will break down completely. For me, we have not even increased; we are even trying to lobby with the Federal Ministry of Health to beg them to see the possibility of increasing the cost of treatment.

And I can tell every patient that my doors are open 24/7 for anybody who has complaints. Meet me I will resolve it. I may not have the opportunity to go round to see every patient. Already, we have a public complain unit here. So if they can complain, they may not bring it up. As you complain, send an advance copy to me. We have a SERVICOM unit downstairs. I am advising members of the public to avail themselves of the services of this unit.

Some time ago, you issued a statement advocating that tertiary hospitals should be included in TETFUND, how far has it been?

Yes, we did and I can tell you that the National Assembly is looking at the matter very critically. It will take care of the infrastructural development, training, research and other things. I have said it quite often that over 80 per cent of students who come from medical school must pass through Tertiary hospital. We train postgraduate doctors, we train nurses and other staff. So, are we not a tertiary health institution? So why did they eliminate Tertiary hospitals? 

However, we have presented the white papers to the House of Representatives Committee on Health Institutions through the Minister of Health with a view to amending Section 7(1) Sub-Section 3 of the Act  to read thus: ‘the distribution of the Fund, shall be in the ratio of 2:1:5:1: between Universities, Tertiary Hospitals, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education.’

I give you an instance, the University collects school fees from students, the students come through here and use our consumables. The University does not contribute to consumables these students use. It is unfair for tertiary hospitals not to be included in TETFUND.

  

The Minister issued some directives on detention of patients following inability to pay hospitals bills, As Chairman of the Committee on CMDs what is your response to that, are you people ready to comply?

The truth of the matter is that people are not ready to pay; it is not that there is no money to pay. Nigerians want to be treated free, not that they don’t have the money. Now we insist that anybody that comes must pay deposit unless the person comes unconscious, and they are paying. Nobody should deceive you that they don’t have money; they will tell the public that they are being detained but they are not being detained by anybody.