For quite sometimes, no resident medical doctor at the Federal Teaching Hospital, formerly, Federal Medical Centre, Lokoja is a happy practitioner, as woes continue to betide them, even as the facility has been operating below performance standards.
Investigation by journalists in Lokoja, Kogi State capital at the Federal Medical Centre revealed that there was no employment of Resident Doctors in the past 12 years, while the Chief Medical Director, CMD, Dr Olatunde Alabi told the angry casual doctors to protest their woes to the Honourable Minister of Health, and leaving him out, a source told CAPITAL POST.
This is even as only 94 doctors, out which 29 are on casual employment and
employment waivers not given to FTHL.
Also, to manage poor operations, 3 doctors are attached to over 300 patients in GOPD, as Surgery Consultants have suspended residency training.
Currently it was 1 Resident Doctor to 3 theaters, Emergencies, ICU, a development, the facility could be described as “a glorified mortuary”, as patients expresses concern over the continued degeneration of medical services under the watch of the Chief Medical Director, Dr Olatunde Alabi.
Meanwhile, FTHL may be shut if drastic measures are taken over shortage of Resident Doctors
CAPITAL POST further learnt that aside from the general brain drain of Medical Doctors and other professionals leaving the country for greener pastures, the casualization of doctors, constant victimization, unpaid arrears, Gross shortage of manpower, burnt out syndrome and unfriendly working environment has allegedly motivated the Constant exodus of doctors from the Federal Teaching Hospital Lokoja .
The situation was aggravated by non utilisation of waivers by the Federal Ministry of Health to the Management of federal Teaching Hospital Lokoja to employ doctors to fill critical vacancies in their facilities and repeated accusation of the Health Minister by the CMD FTHL of refusing to grant him waiver to get employ despite the instruction of Mr President that waivers should be granted speedily in health sector.
However, it was gathered that instead of utilising the waivers, the Management, under Doctor Olatunde 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. Olatunde Alabi had presided over dwindling numbers of doctors from over 220 resident doctors to 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 thousands of patients who daily troop to the hospital.
According to an insider, who pleaded anonymity, there was a systematic resignation of appointments by the doctors before 2020.
The hospital had over 220 residents which became 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 and they had pile up of unpaid arrears of minimum wage, hazard allowances and wage award.
According to some documents sighted by our correspondent, only 7 Doctors are assigned to accident and emergency,; 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 proper employment let alone 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, Victimization of workers, casualization of doctors and deplorable infrastructure 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 and Antibiotics.
Some doctors even confirmed that all these were taken by their leaders to the Ministry of health and reported officially to them and no action has been taken concerning employment waivers and unpaid arrears till date.
The situation has gone so bad now with the suspension of residency training by the consultants in the surgery department in a document we say where the consultants had written to the CMD FTHL notifying him of their decision to suspend Residency training in their department.
This action which is intended to spread to other departments will lead to mass exodus of residents and complete collapse of the hospital.
Meanwhile, some doctors who spoke to our Correspondent on the basis of anonymity for fear of victimization by the CMD said, they are fed up with increased workload on them, three monthly renewal of employment, unpaid arrears running into years, constant victimization, working under harsh unbearable conditions, denial of medical officers with primaries to do in – house training: poor accommodation and pairing of 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.
Efforts to speak to the CMD , Dr. Olatunde Alabi failed as repeated calls and visits to his office failed to get comment from him.
