The Medical Social Service department of University of Medical Science Teaching Hospital Complex (UNIMEDTHC), Ondo has been advised to always handle every medical social problems that is associated with Indigent or non-indigent patients illness and other disabilities with uttermost priority.

The Chief Medical Director of the University, Dr. Oluwole Ige, gave this charge during an interactive session with journalists staring the significance of saving life as the core of any health workers.

Ige said the Medical Social Service department of the Teaching Hospital would institute social intervention in patients brought to the hospital on emergency by non-relatives like FRSC, Police and other people making arrangements to inform the patient relatives about his or her condition so as to quicken their medical treatments.

The CMD urged the department to handle every social problems that is associated with patient’s illness and any other disabilities with care, saying they should institute case work service professionally and provide immediate assistance to indigent patients in order to support their treatment and rehabilitation.

Ige stressed that officers should endeavor to conduct the Means Test without prejudice so as to determine patient’s ability to fund treatment or settle medical bills and interface with hospital management appropriately.

He further added that contact tracking and tracing of absconded patients should be conducted professionally for record purpose, and to recover hospital revenue.

Ige advised the personnel in the department to facilitate the admission of economically disadvantaged patients, reviewing patients with other health team members and after proper counseling of patients on their various diseases through a Mean Test and sourcing financial support for indigents to get treatment.

However, in his reaction the Head of the department Mr. Akeem Lawal noted some challenges confronting them saying that means of identification of accidents victims so difficult let alone sourcing for their relatives during emergency.

He called on the general public, philanthropists in the state, NGO and religious institution to come on board to their aid and raise funds in order to support the indigents in the teaching hospital to settle their medical bills.