The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Doctors

  • Saudi-German hospital collaborates with Nigerian hospitals, doctors 

    Nigeria’s effort to curb medical tourism has received a boost as the Saudi-German Hospital (SGH) in Dubai seeks to collaborate with Nigerian hospitals and doctors.

    Besides, doctors from the hospital were in Nigeria to screen and treat patients in Abuja and Kaduna.

    The essence is to ensure that cases that could be handled here in the country are dealt with so as to discourage unnecessary traveling on the part of patients.

    It is reported that Nigeria spends over $1 billion on medical tourism annually.

    Saudi German Hospitals Group is the largest private Healthcare provider in the MENA region (Middle East and North Africa.)

    While responding to questions from journalists in Abuja after the screening, a German Board Certified Neuro Surgeon, Dr Khaldoun Osman, said SGH would be happy if it could find partners in Nigeria, which will help curb medical tourism.

    Osman said they have lots of Nigerians as their patients, which explained why the hospital will want to have partners in the country.

    He said with partners in the country, patients could easily be screened while only the most severe cases would be referred abroad.

    The purpose of the visit, he added, is also to save the patients from spending huge FOREX unnecessarily by ascertaining those who really need to travel outside the country for treatment and those whose cases can be adequately handled locally.

    The surgeon also revealed that the free camp and screening carried out was as a result of the rising cases of back pain and brain tumors. He revealed that the burden of back pain and tumors are on the increase in the continent.

    He, however, noted that with new technologies available, it has become easier to detect the problem at a very early stage and treat it, insisting that it is important to detect such conditions at an early stage and treat properly.

    Dr Osman said the Saudi German Hospital, Dubai, has also concluded plans to partner with the Nigerian doctors in the area of training.

    “We are planning to provide Continued Medical Education (CME) programme so that we can train doctors in Nigeria so that they can learn about the techniques and the new technology for the development of the country. The purpose of the visit is to check the spectrums of cooperation between our hospital and Nigeria,” he noted.

    Also speaking, a member of the team, Dr George Davis, while describing the camps in Kaduna and Abuja as successful, disclosed that the major cases recorded during the camp include oncology –cancer care, cardiac surgery and neuro-spine.

    Saudi German Hospital is also keen to train doctors from this region and set up telemedicine centres in Abuja.

    In the long term, “we will be investing in the country to develop the healthcare system which in turn will provide cost effective treatment to Nigerians. We are looking at long term strategic plan. We intend to tie up with local hospitals in the healthcare systems of the country,” he explained.

    Dr Davis spoke about the facilities available at Saudi German Hospital Dubai.

    The Group operates eight hospitals in the region. The SGH Dubai has 300 beds with JCI and TEMOS accreditations. The medical team consists of 200 doctors supported by excellent clinical and support services.

  • Doctors in academia challenged to be business savvy

    Doctors in academia challenged to be business savvy

    Medical practitioners in the academia have been challenged to step out of their ‘comfort zones’ and start thinking on how to commercialise their God-given endowments.

    They were urged by Dr Felix Ogedegbe, a consultant orthopedic surgeon and the Medical Director, CEDACREST Hospitals,  who spurred his colleagues at the Lagos State University College of Medicine (LASUCOM) to add more feathers to their caps by becoming medical entrepreneurs. This according to him, is lacking in Nigeria.

    “All through my time in medical practice, I have observed that Nigeria, especially, lacked medical entrepreneurs. Those in the academia often love to sit in their comfort zones and hardly think of reaching out.

    “Having put in some years into government service, all we want to say is: ‘I have paid my dues after all’. Truth is, in genuine service to one’s fatherland, no one can pay dues; you continue to give your best to the country until you are no longer able to,” he said.

    Dr Ogedegbe was one of the lead speakers at LASUCOM Academic Leadership Retreat themed: ‘Academic Staff Leadership for Today’s Nigeria.TRES( Teaching, Research, Entrepreneurship& Service), Antidote to distress’.

    As a medical director of a state-of-the-art hospital with arms in Lagos and Abuja, Ogedegbe said he has traversed the length and breadth of Nigeria, adding that anywhere he went, he discovered that one issue or the other would be crying for attention in various facets of medical practice. “That is why we need to wake up and fill the void,” he added.

    He further challenged his colleagues to wean themselves of Nigeria’s suffocating business environment, which prospective entrepreneurs often use as excuse for business failure. With determination as their weapon, Ogedegbe said they could access a macro business loan with which they can kickstart a modest clinic.

    To make their ambition successful, Ogedegbe admonished them to draw a Business Plan, using the SWOT analysis, to strategise, project, make permutations, shop for like minds to work with, be ICT-driven and set benchmark with respect to global best practice.s

    Ogedegbe has a word of advise for government on how to help curtail capital flight through medical tourism abroad. “Government, for instance, regulates the banking and aviation sectors; but in healthcare there is no standard yet. Therefore, the government must take special interest in setting up clear standard for the medical industry. Government must also provide funds so that those willing to take the risk can meet this standard by setting up the kind of medical facilities that people run to in other parts of the world.”

    Former LASUCOMS Provost, Prof Olumutiwa Odusanya, admonished his former colleagues to see themselves as leaders in their respective departments, and therefore, be able to make individual impact for the overall success of the college.

    “The mere fact that you are the head should also make you see yourself as the least. To be a leader, we must bring down our level of authority to responsibility. It’s all about making a change. Once that is lacking, you cannot be an effective leader,” he said.

    Speaking on the rationale behind the two-day event, Provost LASUCOMM Prof Babatunde Solagberu, said: “At LASUCOMM, we are training medical students to become medical doctors; that is medical education. As doctors, we are also consultants in teaching hospitals which are the laboratory for teaching. Now we are raising experts at that level to those we call residents doctors who will become consultants. Now both of them are huge businesses and particularly because government also expects us to generate money internally; and we can now run skill-enhancing programmes that will serve the private sector outside.”

  • Doctors threaten strike

    The National Association of Resident Doctors Southeast caucus has threatened a solidarity strike to protest alleged “unjust” suspension of its President  in the  Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Umuahia, Dr Innocent Orji.

    The management suspended Orji for alleged breach of  civil service rule and professional misconduct.

    Speaking in Umuahia the president of the zone’s caucus  Dr Chijioke Udu, said the hospital management breached  civil service procedure when it suspended Orji before issuing him a query.

    Udu said that while Orji allegedly committed the said offences on February 16, he was suspended on February 23 and issued a query on February 27 which does not make any sense according to the rules of civil service.

    He said, “It is on record that the suspension was not preceded by any query as prescribed by the public service rule, nor any other attempt made to obtain his own side of the story”.

  • Akeredolu begs doctors to end strike

    Akeredolu begs doctors to end strike

    Ondo State Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu yesterday appealed to striking doctors and health workers to end their industrial action.
    Akeredolu made the plea at his first meeting with civil servants held at the Governor’s Office in Alagbaka, Akure.
    Civil servants are owed seven months salaries. Two weeks ago, health workers embarked on an indefinite strike and vowed not to resume until they are paid.
    The governor said he felt their pains, assuring them that he will ensure prompt payment of salary.
    He said: “I feel your pains. I am not an executive governor. I am one of you. I am just a top servant
    “If you don’t receive salaries, as your governor I don’t deserve to receive any salary too. If you are not being paid, no one should be paid.
    “I am aware of the agony you are going through, I can feel your sufferings. A labourer deserves his wages.
    “To the striking health workers, I want to use this medium to appeal to our health workers, doctors, to please in the name of God, resume work.
    “We will run an open government. I intend to move from here to have a small committee that will include the accountant general and a few others to address this issue and find out what we can do.”

  • Doctors without border opens feeding centre in Maiduguri

    Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), also known as doctors with borders, has opened a new 50-bed capacity therapeutic feeding centre for malnourished children in Borno State.

    The 50-bed centre is an expansion of the 100-bed feeding centre, making a total of three of such specialised centres in Maiduguri.

    The new feeding centre, which will be run by Borno State Primary healthcare, is located in Fori district. It comprises an outpatient department, also known as the ambulatory therapeutic feeding centre, and the inpatient department, also known as the inpatient therapeutic feeding centre.

    Field Coordinator Cathy Hansens said the centre started receiving children on Saturday.

    “In the outpatient programme, malnourished children are enrolled in a nutrition programme where they get medical follow-up every fortnight. Sick children also get plumpy nut ration. Severe acutely malnourished children presented with complications are admitted to the in-patient department for as long as they need close medical follow-up.

    “We have so far in the outpatient programme, after three weeks, 120 children and 15 in the in-patient department. Here,  we attend to children with severe complications,” Hansens said.

    He added that MSF has a team of community health workers who go into the community to test children for malnutrition and educate parents on the need to bring their children to the programme, and according to him, “the response has been encouraging”.

  • Doctors sue FMC Umuahia CMD

    Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) Federal Medical Centre, Umuahia, the Abia State capital, has sued the Chief Medical Director, Dr. Chuku Abali.

    The doctors said the suit, filed at the National Industrial Court, Enugu, became unavoidable as the CMD had allegedly failed to address basic issues affecting their welfare and facilities.

    They said he planned to sack some of them.

    The suit, which was yet to be fixed for hearing, has NARD, FMC Umuahia President, Dr Orji Emeka Innocent and other executive members as plaintiffs.

    The doctors are seeking an order to make the CMD “desist from interfering with their residency programme”.

    “To address forthwith all the issues relating to the remuneration owed either by immediate payment or a concrete arrangement backed with sincere commitment.”

     

  • Resident doctors say LASUTH faces shortage of doctors

    Dr Adeola Badmus, Chairman, Association of Resident Doctors, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja, says shortage of resident doctors has affected efficiency and productivity at the hospital.

    Badmus made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Lagos.

    “There is severe shortage of resident doctors in LASUTH, because there has not been any direct employment of residents since 2011

    “The marked shortage in residents’ number due to government’s refusal of employment of resident doctors has significantly affected health care delivery negatively.

    “Because, when a doctor is doing the work of five or more doctors, you can never get the best out of that doctor, thereby affecting efficiency and productivity,’’ he said.

    The president also said that the issue of non-payment of corrected Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) and some infrastructural decay in the hospital needed to be addressed.

    Badmus said that the hospital’s ARD was in support of the National Association of Resident Doctor’s (NARD) impending strike as the health sector had progressively decayed due to little attempt by the Federal Government to resuscitate the sector.

    According to him, it is disheartening to see the sector in a poor state despite repeated effort by NARD.

    “Several meetings, negotiations and agreements have been reached with the government at various times in order to improve the health care system and welfare of health workers.

    “But there is lack of political will to implement the agreements, leading to progressive decay in the health sector.

    “In view of this, at the extraordinary National Executive Council meeting of NARD, held on Dec. 11, 2016, a 21-day ultimatum was given which expired on Jan. 3.

    “Some of the demands by the association include white paper on residency training programme and implementation of the National Health Act 2014.

    “This will enable Nigerians to benefit from universal health insurance coverage when implemented instead of limiting it to just the ruling class.

    “An injury to one is an injury to all; NARD is our parent body and we stand firmly with its decision,’’ he said.

    He called on well-meaning Nigerians to prevail on the government, to do the needful in other to avoid an indefinite strike.

    The Chief Medical Director, LASUTH, Dr Adewale Oke, also told NAN that the hospital would soon get approval from the state government to employ more doctors.

    Oke said also that the hospital had taken as many doctors from other hospitals to train for one or two years in fields they did not have.

    “We know the peculiarity of the state in terms of the free health policy and the number of patients that visit us.

    “Indeed, we can say that we need more doctors; the state government has approved the employment of more consultants and nurses.

    “And he is currently in the present state of giving us approval for residents.

    “The Health Service Commission is also going to select those medical officers who have passed their primary exams and now send them to LASUTH to increase the number,’’ he said. (NAN)

  • Before resident doctors are pilloried

    SIR: I have listened to the media claiming they are always on the side of the oppressed anytime doctors embark on strike. They argue from the side of the members of the public who are the victims of government’s arrogance and neglect to our health sector. I wonder why the same members of the press have equally refused to be on the side of the doctors now that another national strike is looming.  As usual, agreements have in the past been reached but our insensitive government has severally reneged on her promises.

    Among the demands of the National Association Of Resident Doctors (NARD) are: roadmap and timeline for the implementation of the National Health Act signed into law in 2014; timeline for the revamping of health facilities and equipment; immediate release and implementation of the white paper on residency programme; payment of December 2015 salary to doctors in FMC Owerri who were not on strike but locked out by Federal Ministry of Health; release of the circular on house officers/medical officers entry level as agreed since 2013 but yet to be released;  stop all attempts to remove relativity between the salary of doctors and other health workers as well stop all moves to revert/reverse skipping for doctors; immediate reinstatement of members sacked unduly without recourse to the circular on the employment/tenure ship of resident doctors and the 2010 high court judgement on tenure ship of resident doctors in favour of Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital Sagamu; stoppage of all victimization of unions, union leaders and members in line with the high court judgement, the labour law, circulars on relationship with unions and membership to unions in the interest of industrial harmony; and immediate enrolment of residents into IPPIS with their appropriate skipped salary grade level.

    I urge the members of the press to make these demands known to the public and our insensitive government because very soon the resident doctors will embark on a nationwide strike.

     

    • Dr Paul John,

    Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

  • Doctors couldn’t diagnose dad’s ailment, says Okpozo’s son

    Edgar, the eldest son of the late Senator Francis Okpozo, has said it was unfortunate that doctors could not diagnose the ailments that led to his father’s death.
    Edgar addressed reporters at the Benin, the Edo State capital, home of the late senator where a condolence register was opened for mourners.
    Okpozo, 81, died at a private hospital in Benin after he was admitted at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) for about three weeks.
    The senator was taken from UBTH to the private clinic in preparation for his transfer to a better medical facility abroad.
    Edgar said his late dad started complaining of not feeling too well five weeks ago and was taken to the hospital.
    He said doctors could not diagnose the ailments his dad was suffering from.
    Edgar said: “It was a brief illness, something that started five weeks ago. He complained of not feeling too well and we took him to the hospital.
    “It was bad that the treatment did not help matters. They didn’t discover what was wrong with him; maybe it was lack of good tools. They were treating but, unfortunately, we lost him.
    “We were friends. We talked a lot about politics and the family. His death is a big loss not only to the family but also to Niger Delta. He was there to serve differently from what we have today. It is bad that people of his generation are going at a time we need their experience.”
    The late Okpozo was a Deputy Speaker of the defunct Bendel State House of Assembly. He presided over the sitting that established Ozoro Polytechnic and the now Ambrose Alli University after the Speaker refused to preside over plenary.
    He was elected to the Senate on the platform of the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP)and was the Chairman of Elders Council of Delta State’s chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
    His widow, Anna, who was surrounded by friends and family members simply said: “I have joined the widows’ club.”

  • LASUCOM inducts 54 doctors

    LASUCOM inducts 54 doctors

    Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode has called on the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) and other regulatory bodies to join his administration in curbing activities of “quack” medical personnel.
    The governor spoke yesterday at the 11th induction of doctors by Lagos State University College of Medicine (LASUCOM), and awards to individuals who contributed to growth and development of the college.
    Ambode, who was represented by Deputy Governor Idiat Adebule, urged the 54 doctors to abide by provisions of their oath.
    The governor advised them to stick to the vision of the founding fathers.
    He noted that LASUCOM is central to the development of human capacity and support services for the government’s Health care Strategic Development Policy.
    He promised that his government would elevate and support LASUCOM to world standard through provision of modern equipment and infrastructure.
    The Provost, Prof Babatunde Solagberu, said the college would produce the first set of dental surgeons by a state university college of medicine when Lagos celebrate 50 in 2017.