Patients groan as mass exodus of doctors hit Lafiya specialist hospital

Mass exodus of doctors and other health care providers has hit the Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital (DASH) in Lafia, the capital city of Nasarawa State.  Insecurity, harsh economic realities, poor remuneration and deteriorating health facilities are among the major factors why doctors are fleeing Nigeria in search of greener pastures overseas.  However, for the patients […]

Mass exodus of doctors and other health care providers has hit the Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital (DASH) in Lafia, the capital city of Nasarawa State. 

Insecurity, harsh economic realities, poor remuneration and deteriorating health facilities are among the major factors why doctors are fleeing Nigeria in search of greener pastures overseas. 

However, for the patients and management of Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital in Lafia, the past few months have not been rosy as the hospital lost at least 22 doctors to brain drain in five months. The Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Dr Hassan Ikrama, recently confirmed this at an award ceremony organized by the management of the hospital to reward members of staff.

According to him, the doctors left for Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom and some for other hospitals within the country. He confirmed that the hospital was stretched even though he said they are moving on and have already gotten approval from the state government for the replacement of the doctors who left.

Our correspondent however gathered that as government is yet to replace the doctors, patients who visit the hospital say doctors and nurses are over-stretched and sometimes speak to them in frustration. A patient who asked not to be mentioned said: “How can one doctor or one nurse attend to over fifteen patients in a day? My sick father has been on admission for over a month and we are not finding it easy due to the lack of man power in the hospital.”

Another patient, who spoke to our correspondent off the record, said they are going through a lot of challenges as a result of inadequate doctors in the hospital. “The state government needs to act fast to avoid losing more of its doctors and nurses. The management of the hospital though is working to normalize things. If drastic steps are not taken to address the issue immediately, things could get worse,” she said.  

Some of the doctors presently working in the hospital confided to Daily Trust on Sunday that more doctors and nurses are threatening to leave due to poor renumeration, poor facilities and failure to pay them allowances.

One of the doctors who pleaded anonymity for fear of victimisation said, “We have not been paid our hazard allowances and as I am talking to you now, my tax is about N200,000. Every month, they deduct tax; whether it is from the federal or state government, I don’t know, so it’s not encouraging at all. If the state cannot do anything about it, the doctors have no alternative than to leave the country,” he said. He said many doctors want to stay and render services in their country but are frustrated. “We don’t have enough equipment to work with even for someone who is working in a government hospital.”

Another doctor, who did want his name in print, told our correspondent that some of their agitations were high-tax and being overworked without the necessary allowances. He emphasized that with the COVID-19 which exposes the world’s health sector to new challenges, the management needs to take a proactive measure by employing more medical personnel. “We are overstretched; we have a very big facility with little manpower to manage. We have just limited number of doctors working in a particular place like this and yet, some of us will work in a year and we can’t even remember the last time we rested well,” he lamented.

Reacting to the issue, the chairman of Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), Nasarawa State chapter, Dr Sabo Emmanuel, said the problem is not limited to Nasarawa State as it cuts across the country. Dr Emmanuel, who is also a consultant family physician, said poor remuneration for doctors, degraded hospital facilities are some of the reasons why some medical doctors are leaving the country to source for greener pastures in other countries.

“Poor working condition and non-implementation of approved salary scale for doctors and other health workers as well as promotion and annual increment of emoluments, security among other reasons is why doctors and nurses are leaving the hospital,” he said.

He said Nigerian doctors are widely accepted overseas because they are well trained, adding that it is not just doctors that are fleeing the country but nurses are equally leaving in their numbers. “Some of them are relocating to countries such as UK and the Saudi Arabia. I will give you an example, in Saudi Arabia, the one-month salary payment is like five months salary in Nigeria. So, if you are a consultant of over 15 years, the package is enormous in Saudi Arabia,” he said, adding that “the temptation to leave the country and travel out is high. For those of us that have remained, it is out of loyalty to our country and service to humanity.”

“As I speak to you now, the hazard allowance has not been implemented in Nasarawa State, it has not been domesticated.  We are still discussing it and the contributory pension scheme has not been implemented in the normal work force. Our doctors have died as a result of work hazard; we lost two doctors to Lassa Fever last year and their contributory pension scheme has not been paid, gratuity as well has not been paid,” he stated.

The NMA chairman however applauded the state government for employing some people recently, particularly in the Hospital Management Board. He emphasised that the issue of brain drain is beyond the management of the hospital even though the hospital has tried to be on top of it. “The CMD has restructured the hospital in such a way that he made some replacement of doctors to cushion the effect of brain drain,” he said.

However, the CMD, Dr Hassan Ikrama, said the hazard allowance in Nasarawa State is the same as what is obtained at federal hospitals, adding that promotions have just been implemented for all eligible workers in the state including health workers. “There is therefore no improved salary scale that has not been implemented here,” he said.

He concluded that the 22 doctors that have left the hospital will be replaced, adding that applications are being received and they will be interviewed within two weeks as the management was following the civil service rules to ensure accountability.