New Telegraph

Dearth of manpower hits Anambra general hospitals

Acting Hospital Administrator, Anambra State Hospitals’ Management Board, Dr Okey Achugbu, has decried dearth of medical doctors in the state’s public healthcare system. Achugbu said this while defending the board’s financial transactions in 2019, before the state House of Assembly Committee on Public Accounts.

“We have about 34 general hospitals in the state but some of the hospitals have just one doctor while some do not even have at all. “A minimum of five doctors are required in a general hospital but here, in Anambra, lack of manpower is our major challenge. “A lot of our manpower are the very old ones who came down from the old Anambra State. “We do not have enough doctors, nurses, pharmacists and support staff across board,” he said. Achugbu said that the board would need qualified manpower to deliver quality healthcare in the state.

He urged the committee to make recommendations to the government to address the problem of manpower in the state’s hospitals. According to him, the legislature have what it takes to make the board and the hospitals function efficiently. Also speaking, Dr Ebelechukwu Anugwu, Medical Director, General Hospital Onitsha, appealed to the legislature to enact a law that would enable the hospital to be accredited for Medical Residency Training. Anugwu said such accreditation would generate revenue for the state and qualified consultants and medical personnel.

“Our children are graduating from medical schools and they have no place to do their residency training programme. “General Hospital, Onitsha, is over due to be accredited for residency training, even if it can be done in steps. “We are appealing to the house, either by advocacy or by law to help facilitate the commencement of the training programme in Onitsha, “she said. In his remarks, Mr Somtochukwu Udeze, Chairman of the House Committee on Public Accounts, urged the board to write a proposal to the assembly in that regard.

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