The Chief Medical Director  of the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Prof. Temitope Alonge, has urged the Federal Government to   privatise tertiary hospitals in the country in order to make health care delivery more efficient to the people.

 

Alonge, a specialist in orthopaedic trauma surgery, made the call while declaring open a one-day training for medical personnel from South-West hospitals on the use of auto-disposable syringes, which was organised in collaboration with Firstmed Nigeria Limited at the UCH on Saturday.

 

“I have always said that it will be better if the Federal Government privatises its teaching hospitals. Long before now, we had Nigeria Telecommunications Limited with epileptic service but when the monopoly was removed and the telecommunications sector was privatised, telephoning has been made easy. Privatisation of the hospitals will bring better service delivery, higher patronage and better remuneration for the members of staff. The issue of privatisation is a global trend that is not limited to Nigeria. There is nowhere in the world that government control allows an industry to excel,” Alonge said.

 

The UCH CMD said federal hospitals in Nigeria shouldered a huge burden in terms of payment but little commitment from the personnel.

 

He added if there was ownership content on the part of the health care providers, frequent strike would be checked and the hospitals would be managed differently.

 

Alonge said, “They will not want to go on strike because they know that they have patients who must not die. They will treat the patients differently because they know that if anything happens to them, it will affect their ranking. They will also get up-to-date equipment because they want to increase their flow of patronage and efficiency.

 

“In UCH, we have Public Private Partnership of services and not of personnel. We provide the enabling environment and the patient but investors provide the equipment like the MRI machine and our laboratory. In this manner, they are committed to providing updated equipment in order to enhance efficiency and profit.”

 

He, however,  said that a few tertiary hospitals should be left in their present status for patients who could not afford the cost of treatment at the privatised hospitals.

 

Speaking on the Federal Government directive that the new auto-disposable syringes must be used in all hospitals nationwide, Alonge said when the directive came from the Federal Ministry of Health in 2012, some hospitals like UCH complied but along the line, there were complaints about usage.