Erudite Scholar and Professor of Ophthalmology Dr. Benedictus Ajayi have said that doctors and hospital workers are not entirely responsible for the sorry state of the health sector.
According to him, their grievances for the strikes are genuine most of the time and the entire nation is to blame for their actions.
He said this while delivering the 34th convocation lecture of the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria, NPMCN, Lagos, titled “What kind of Doctor are you? last week.
“A country where there are no social-security benefits, workers are owed salaries for several months and pensioners, who have served the nation faithfully, are denied their benefits, cannot expect an unqualified loyalty from its citizens. The clinician said to attribute the failure of the teaching hospitals to fully discharge their responsibilities to the strikes would be most unfair to the doctors and health professionals.
“As a matter of fact, the most important reason adduced these strikes is inability of the governments, the owners of nearly all the hospitals to provide the wherewithal to discharge these important responsibilities.
“This is probably the most important fuel for corruption because everyone tries to grab as much as he can to look after himself and his family and those who corruptly enrich themselves with the money that should have been used to provide and improve social services are murderers or at best accessories,” he said.
On how it affects residency traininfects residency training programmes, Ajayi said frequent disruptions have resulted in longer training periods, unplanned increase in the cost of training and the inability to meet the projected manpower needs of the country.
“The frequent strikes have resulted in loss of confidence by patients in the hospitals, leading to low volume of patients, often inadequate to meet the minimum standards prescribed by various faculties for both clinical and surgical acquisition.
Describing who a good specialist is, the expert said he or she must show respect for patients life above all other considerations, ought to ensure that the care he provides is of the highest quality possible, be responsible member of his or her professional community by maintaining standards, avoiding conduct that would bring the community and its members to disrepute.
Other qualities according to him include, they must be conscious of and observe the ethical, legal and scientific criteria for medical research, ought to ensure that communication to the public reflect their social responsibilities, and reflect the highest level of probity and out to ensure that fees for specialist services do not exploit patients or others who pay for the services among others.
Urging the doctors to always have the right attitude to work and to avoid strike actions, Ajayi said doctors must learn the art of communication and lobbying, they must learn how to win friends and influence people. “We have sworn to preserve not to destroy life; strikes maim and kill our patients, kill our initiatives, dull our intellect and skills and make our patients who should be our allies our foes.”
Also speaking at the convocation ceremony, the College president, Prof. Ademola Olaitan said postgraduate medical and dental education in Nigeria is passing through a turbulent period and high investments in medical education by government will yield high quality of patients care but frowns at frequent strikes that disrupt training.
Top among the investments in medical education according to him will be the government resuscitation and funding of the one-year abroad that exposed post part 1 residents to practices in the developed world.
By: Saidat Alausa
National Mirror News
ABUJA: Training Schedule for Basic Life Support BLS, Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support ACLS, First Aid, CPR, AED
PORTHARCOURT: Training Schedule for Basic Life Support BLS, Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support ACLS, First Aid, CPR, AED
LAGOS: Training Schedule for Basic Life Support BLS, Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support ACLS, First Aid, CPR, AED
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