108 left in 4 years.
* No doctor employed in 5 years .
* Employment waivers not utilised – findings
* 3 Doctors to 300 patients in GOPD
Unless drastic measures are taking in earnest, the federal Teaching Hospital Lokoja FTHL formerly, know as Federal Medical Center FMC is likely to be shut down due to acute shortage of Residents doctors .
Investigations revealed that aside from the general brain drain of medical doctors and other professionals leaving the country for greener pastures , the unfriendly working environment has allegedly motivated the exodus of doctors from the Federal Teaching Hospital Lokoja.
The situation was aggravated by none utilisation of waivers by the Federal Ministry of Health to the Management of federal Medical Centers to employ doctors to fill critical vacancies in their facilities.
However, it was gathered that instead of utilising the waivers , the management, under Doctor Olatunji Alabi allegedly engaged doctors on Locum (casual) as some of them have spent upward of three years without confirmation and made them to sign their employment letters every three months
Investigation has also shown that the present chief medical Director, Dr. Olatunji Alabi had inherited 190 resident Doctors in 2020 but as at the last count , only 94 doctors were said to have remained in the services of the hospital to offer both secondary and Tertiary healthcare needs of hundreds of patients who daily troop to the hospital.
According to a dependable source , there was a systematic resignation of appointments by the doctors as in 2020, the hospital had 190 doctors , it was reduced to 175 in 2021 and depleted to130 in 2022 while 110 stay put in 2023 and only 94 doctors out which 29 are on locum who are presently rendering their services,lamenting that the workload posed serious health hazards for the remaining Doctors.
According to some documents sighted by our correspondent, only 7 Doctors are assigned to accident and emergency , 5 to anaesthesia; anesthesia and Dental Departments have 5 doctors apiece, family medicine and Laboratory medicine had 13 doctors while Ear, Nose and Tongue ENT Department has 2 and NHIS has only 1 doctor. to attend to hundreds of patients trooping to the hospital for treatment.
It was equally gathered that out of the 94 doctors most of whom are on the verge of leaving their employment, 29 of them are on locum ( Casual) as some have spent upward of three years without being confirmed with permanent and pensionable appointments.
According to the source, the reason for the mass exodus of doctors from the centre may not be unconnected to the high handedness of the CMD, deplorable infrastructures and poor motivation.
According to him, the management has owed doctors a minimum wage arrears of 5 years , Hazard allowance of 2 years and the recently introduced Wage award for 10 months.
” This situation is so bad that A/E with 8 bed capacity inside and the rest patients are admitted outside A/E with 10 bed spaces and sometimes patients are admitted on the floor.
” The management made a policy that no patients should be attended to until they have opened folders and no more credit facility even as non availability of essential drugs, no functional generators and no central oxygen supply to each patient’s bed.The case of a patient , 45 years old who was admitted sometimes this year with Uremic gastroenteritis but the patient died due to lack of essential drugs as low as Paracetamol, diacynol , Omeprazole, Antibiotics and no blood in the blood bank.
Meanwhile, some doctors who spoke to our Correspondent on the basis of anonymity said, they are fed up with increased workload on them , poor call meal supplies , denial of medical officers with primaries in – house training: poor accommodation and pairing of in house officers in a room and epileptic power and water supply.
They chorused that these and many more were responsible for mass exodus of doctors from the Hospital as many are in a last minutes preparation to ditch the hospital, urging the the minister of health Dr. Muhammad Ali Pate to wade in before the hospital finally shut down.
However, all efforts to speak to the CMD , Dr. Olatunji Alabi failed as repeated calls and visits to his office failed to get comment from him.
