Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Office of Transformation, Creativity and Innovation, Oluwatoyin Anjous-Ademuyiwa, has warned that any resident who attacks medical personnel in hospitals across the state risks imprisonment, stressing that the government will not tolerate assaults on healthcare workers.
Anjous-Ademuyiwa
gave the warning on Wednesday during the maiden stakeholders’ meeting of the
Federal Medical Centre, Epe, Lagos, themed, “Making FMC Epe Work for All: A
Shared Responsibility for Building Trust, Improving Service and Enhancing
Patient Care.”
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The
meeting was convened by the management of the hospital, led by its Medical
Director, Dr Adeleke Kaka, to mark one year since the facility’s upgrade from a
state general hospital to a Federal Medical Centre and to receive feedback from
residents and other stakeholders on its operations.
During
the meeting, some stakeholders complained about delays in attending to
emergency cases, inadequate manpower and what they described as discourteous
attitudes by some health workers.
They
also recalled incidents in which medical personnel were allegedly assaulted by
relatives of patients over perceived poor service delivery.
Responding,
Anjous-Ademuyiwa condemned attacks on healthcare workers, describing such
actions as criminal offences that would not be tolerated.
She
said, “If you attack our medical staff, you go to jail. Safety is paramount in
our hospitals or any government facility. Health workers are supposed to be
protected at all costs.
“It
doesn’t matter whether you’re the son of the Pope. Doctors also have their
families. The moment you hurt somebody, you’re going to jail. There’s no
compromise on that.
“There’s
a law that says if you hurt people or kill people, you must face the
consequences, and it is applicable here.”
The
permanent secretary said violence against health workers was particularly
disturbing at a time many doctors were leaving the country for greener pastures
abroad.
She
urged patients and their relatives to build trust with healthcare providers
through effective communication, noting that treatment could only be successful
when patients openly discussed their health conditions with doctors.
Addressing
the concerns raised by stakeholders, Kaka acknowledged that attracting and
retaining doctors in Epe remained one of the hospital’s biggest challenges,
blaming the situation on poor electricity supply and the broader migration of
healthcare professionals.
He
appealed to residents to be patient with hospital personnel and avoid actions
capable of discouraging doctors and other health workers from accepting
postings to the area.
Kaka
said, “We’ve been trying our best, but there’s no quick fix when it comes to
getting doctors to work in particular places.”
He
noted that the shortage of medical personnel was not peculiar to FMC Epe,
saying hospitals across the country were facing similar challenges.
“When
you talk about migration, even what people call japa, it is a global thing.
When I attend meetings of committees of CMDs and MDs, it’s the same story
everywhere,” he said.
The
medical director said the hospital had continued to bridge manpower gaps by
engaging National Youth Service Corps doctors and other health workers while
working on more sustainable solutions.
He
added that the management had also been encouraging doctors to remain in Epe by
providing accommodation and creating a more conducive working environment.
“One
of the game-changers we’re looking forward to is commencing our medical
entrepreneurship training and residency training programmes,” Kaka said.
According
to him, residency training would not only improve specialist healthcare
services but also encourage doctors to remain in the hospital for several years
while undergoing professional training.
He
said, “Doctors who come in for residency know they have about five or six years
to complete the programme. That gives them stability, and they know that after
the programme, they will become consultants.”
Kaka
added that the hospital also planned to strengthen the capacity of junior and
middle-level health workers through continuous training to improve service
delivery.
He
assured stakeholders that despite the manpower constraints, the management
remained committed to improving healthcare services and ensuring that residents
of Epe and neighbouring communities had access to quality medical care.
Speaking
on concerns over the non-functioning morgue, Kaka said the management had
commenced rehabilitation of the facility after discovering that it was in a
deplorable condition when the Federal Government took over the hospital.
He
explained that abandoned corpses that had remained in the morgue for several
years were evacuated after due process and given a mass burial, while the
facility was cleaned to restore dignity to the dead.
The
medical director said the hospital had also repaired the morgue’s refrigeration
units but noted that stable electricity remained critical to their effective
operation.
He
expressed optimism that ongoing rehabilitation works would be completed within
the next few weeks, allowing the morgue to resume full operations.
Earlier,
security personnel at the meeting lamented the inability of the hospital to
admit corpses, saying they had been compelled to transport bodies to morgues in
neighbouring Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State.
Other
stakeholders also called for improvements in emergency response, staffing,
electricity supply, security and patient relations to enable the hospital to
better serve residents of Epe and adjoining communities.
The
event was attended by traditional rulers, youth leaders, community development
associations, market associations, traditional birth attendants, political
office holders and other stakeholders, who pledged continued support for the
hospital’s efforts to improve healthcare delivery in the area.
