From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
There are indications that Federal Government might consider a waiver for employment of health workers in the various health care facilities across the country to improve healthcare delivery.
Minister of State for Health, Dr. Tunji Alausa, gave the hint when he paid a familiarization visit to the University College Hospital (UCH) Ibadan, Oyo State, as part of his ongoing over-sight function visits to assess Federal Government owned health institutions in the country.
A statement from the Ministry of Health further indicated that a committee has been set up to consider the request for the employment of health workers.
Meanwhile, the Minister said that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, saw the need for the process of waivers to recruit healthcare workers to be more streamlined and simplified, hence the approval of the issuance of waivers request for hospitals that is domiciled at the Federal Ministry of Health.
“Due to some bottlenecks faced by Chief Medical and Medical Directors, in the process of getting waiver approvals, we reached out to the Head of Service of the Federation, (HoSF) Dr. Yemi Esan, who is working assiduously, to get the approvals.
“We are setting up a waiver committee at the Ministry that will promptly review and address all waiver request from all our hospitals,” the Minister said.
He assured Nigerians of accountability and transparency in the process, stating that each hospital will be asked to generate a request for the number of staff needed and forward same to the Ministry, which will then go to the HoSF for some checks and balances under the establishment law, to see what’s budgeted for the year. “Once the Ministry confirms that everything is verified, approval for the waiver will be sent to the Budget Office where the funds will be made available, there won’t be delays anymore, the Minister stated.
The Minister who commended UCH for the various feat achieved in healthcare delivery, especially in the area of training, encouraged the institution to train more health workers to meet the future needs of Nigeria. “Today our lifestyles have changed, and these have brought some diseases that were, hitherto, unknown to us. The kind of diseases we didn’t have 50 years ago are here with us. We have different kinds of cardiovascular diseases, hence we need cardiac strengthening and other forms of cardiac interventions.
“So, there is need to start training more Specialists in the areas of interventional cardiology, electro physiology, surgical oncology and interventional radiology, to meet the needs of the present day health sector.”
He, however, promised to look into challenges highlighted by the College, especially in the area of power, and suggested that the hospital consider alternative power supply sources like solar, while government continues to mobilize more funding to strengthen and address issues affecting the hospital and the health sector.
Prof. Jesse Otegbayo, Chief Medical Director of UCH, highlighted some of the challenges faced as well as achievements, which includes; specialized surgical procedures in partnership with some UK based charity organizations, as well as donations of medical equipments and infrastructures by well-meaning Nigerians.
He said one of the ambitions of the UCH is to move to quaternary level of care like some health care facilities in the developed world.