Jman06:
On many occasions, Nigerian government had been advised to overhaul the leadership of our health sector starting from the minister of health, governing boards of healthcare institutions, leadership of tertiary healthcare institutions etc, but they seem to pay deaf ears to all the calls. Our health sector is currently managed in a cult-like manner where the medical doctors hijack all leadership positions despite not producing the desired results in terms of good healthcare delivery. They connive with their professional body; the NMA to destroy our health sector. They are placed in those leadership positions with no regards to whether they're qualified or not. Because all the medical doctors belong to the same association ie the NMA, they easily get away with professional negligence in those hospitals led by them. Only very few cases are brought to the fore. But when we have unbiased people who don't belong to same professional group, they'll run the system better. Discipline will be easier to instill and people will be on their toes to give their best.

So, government should start by changing the leadership of the health sector. People from any discipline can be appointed ministers and Commissioners of health. They maybe required to have post graduate certifications in health administration and Management and some years of experience in health administration.

You appear to have something against doctors in leadership.
That seems to be a common thread in all your comments.


I understand that hospital managers don't necessarily have to be medically trained but that's in a system that's robust enough to let doctors get on with being doctors. And there's no duality of roles.
And in those systems, the managers don't interfere with actual medical care provision - they may have an opinion but they don't interfere actively.

Governance framework devoid of personal vendetta or untoward influence exist to help minimise poor practice and improve patient safety, is the way to bring about a checking system.
The framework will be run or facilitated by someone who delivers care and fully understands the intricacies.


That is not operational here yet except in hospitals that run internal audit cycles and regular CPD/ update / simulation sessions.

With all due respect, in the current scenario, there are few qualified independent clinical pharmacists to provide an equitable service as you describe in earlier submissions, to the entire Nigerian population..


So rather than running with a self-serving ?political agenda, think of how to better the lot of most people... In a safe and consistent manner at a minimum standard.



Nothing stops you offering your services to a private hospital firm who will still require you to be supported by a medic as that's what's stipulated by law for independent practice in a hospital environment. Even in advanced climes, nonMedics who offer consultations to less complicated cases such as Physicians Assistants or Adv health practitioners work under the auspices of a medic.. How much more Naija with all due complexities.

NMA and PSN are individually fighting unqualified quacks such as theatre assistants performing surgeries just because they've seen 2 or 3 surgeries or charlatans running drug stores like roadside mini supermarkets, you want to muddy up the waters with no clear governance framework in place?!!


Abeg leave matter for Mathias!!
What you do in your chemist is left up to you.



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Having read through the story and comments, one thing is evident; there are 3 sides to this story - the late woman's family's side, the hospital's side and the truth. However, I think it's early to call out the hospital and hang them. I think they were in a better position to make judgement calls concerning the woman's health situation, rather than relying on the advice of someone in UK who has no idea of the clinical picture. From what I gather from the story, it was a dynamic situation with lots of moving parts, and it could not have been easy to take the type of decisions Most of us would have loved to hear. It's also absolutely imperative we understand how the Health sector works. There's the private and public arms of the health sector. The public arm is managed by the government, while the private arm is managed by individuals.
There are 3 levels of care under the public arm of the health sector, namely;
Primary health care e.g. Health centers
Secondary health care e.g. General hospitals
Tertiary health care e.g. Teaching hospitals and Federal Medical Centres.
Now, due to corruption and unhealthy policies in the health sector, primary health care is almost moribund, and Secondary health care is a shadow of its former self. The burden of care that should have been borne by the primary and secondary levels of care are now transferred to the tertiary level. That is why you see all manner of cases in our tertiary centres. Cough, catarrh, pneumonia, diarrhea, uncomplicated child deliveries, etc are supposed to be managed at the primary level, and only referred to the secondary level if complications develop. This frees the tertiary centers to handle only complicated cases which have been referred for want of equipment and higher skills from general hospitals. The tertiary centers are also designated for research, manpower training and inter-institutional partnerships. However, The Tertiary centres are not spared either, as most of them lack the requirements for effective running or operation. Corruption is massive and on a legendary scale in Nigeria, and is a very terrible cancer ravaging the health sector.
As you can see, there's a state of emergency in the health sector. Most of the health workers working in government institution are already working under stress, carrying a burden heavier than they should carry; and to worsen the situation, many of them are owed for months while still being threatened to come to work. These people are regular Nigerians who have families and relatives who depend on them. Some of them who have not been paid for months are ready to compromise their positions just to eke out a meal for the day. Unfortunately, our so-called leaders and politicians don't care. Rather, they use taxpayers money and our commonwealth to take care of their health and those of their relatives abroad. Hope you guys are seeing where the problems are coming from? It's a hydra-headed problem.
The public sector is run by individuals who want to see an improvement in service delivery and establish global best practices in medical practice. These individuals invest hugely in their practice, to the extent of importing state-of-the-art equipment and paying skilled practitioners to run their establishments. They are also taxed heavily. You will agree with me that this won't come cheap to any user of such establishments; afterall, every investor expects a huge return on his investment. That is not to say that they compromise on the quality of care they render. Most don't compromise. They're ready to give you any service you desire, but the cost will be huge. For those private establishments who cannot procure all the equipment they should have, they partner with external laboratories or institutions to provide such services. From my own point of view, private hospitals will be the life line of the average Nigerian who is seeking quality health care. The Nigerian government does not care about the public health sector. That is why there are strikes every now and then. At the moment, there's mass exodus of health workers to other countries; yet a minister in this current administration had to reply that we have enough doctors, and will import doctors if Nigerian doctors leave. A former minister of health (a doctor) said doctors who are not satisfied with their remuneration should go and learn tailoring, farming, or other skills. This i-don't-care posturing is what has made the rot in the sector continue to fester. It's an unfortunate situation.
Nigerian health workers are very good at what they do. However, poor remuneration, corruption and horrible working conditions has made many of them jumping to other climes where the working conditions are better, and standards of living far greater. Let us try to understand the root causes of the problem and direct our anger rightly to those responsible. Let's wait for the full picture in the Peju case to appear before we pass our judgements. I understand that many of us have been scarred by terrible experiences that should never have been, but let's not tag every misfortune as an act of negligence or arrogance. Let's continue to strive, and demand accountability and strengthen our institutions. Inshallah, we'll get better.

Tedpgrass:


You appear to have something against doctors in leadership.
That seems to be a common thread in all your comments.


I understand that hospital managers don't necessarily have to be medically trained but that's in a system that's robust enough to let doctors get on with being doctors. And there's no duality of roles.
And in those systems, the managers don't interfere with actual medical care provision - they may have an opinion but they don't interfere actively.

Governance framework devoid of personal vendetta or untoward influence exist to help minimise poor practice and improve patient safety, is the way to bring about a checking system.
The framework will be run or facilitated by someone who delivers care and fully understands the intricacies.


That is not operational here yet except in hospitals that run internal audit cycles and regular CPD/ update / simulation sessions.

With all due respect, in the current scenario, there are few qualified independent clinical pharmacists to provide an equitable service as you describe in earlier submissions, to the entire Nigerian population..


So rather than running with a self-serving ?political agenda, think of how to better the lot of most people... In a safe and consistent manner at a minimum standard.



Nothing stops you offering your services to a private hospital firm who will still require you to be supported by a medic as that's what's stipulated by law for independent practice in a hospital environment.

What you do in your chemist is left up to you.



.

You seem to be one of the few sensible medics. Perhaps, you trained or practice abroad.
Nigerian medical doctors have shown over the years that they lack the selflessness to run a robust healthcare system and I believe this is as a result of the interference of their professional union in the running of the system. They stunt the growth of our health sector!
I can only support a doctor who trained in the west -- especially one who has additional qualification in health administration and management, to lead our health sector, and even at that, he/she must distance himself/herself from NMA and their parochial interests. That's the only way they can successfully manage our health sector!

Aside my dislike for the myopic way they run our health sector, I have nothing personal against our docs.

Jman06:
You seem to be one of the few sensible medics. Perhaps, you trained or practice abroad.
Nigerian medical doctors have shown over the years that they lack the selflessness to run a robust healthcare system and I believe this is as a result of the interference of their professional union in the running of the system. They stunt the growth of our health sector!
I can only support a doctor who trained in the west -- especially one who has additional qualification in health administration and management, to lead our health sector, and even at that, he/she must distance himself/herself from NMA and their parochial interests. That's the only way they can successfully manage our health sector!

Aside my dislike for the myopic way they run our health sector, I have nothing personal against our docs.

To the above, I concur

But wonder whether the unholy matrimony with trade associations who also double as regulatory bodies, is not a response to the environmental factors..

As you would have in the honourable Law profession for instance. Even the engineers are not left out.

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Philomath1212:
99% of time, Nigeria doctors kill patients during operation...
When it happens, nobody will know and nothing will happen than their usual saying, sorry we lost him/her

Where did you get your statistics from

ppeessuu:


Stop defending Nigerian hospitals and doctors.
Sho gbo

Learn to make judgements after you have heard both sides of the story and stop acting purely on emotions

Our hospitals are gradually turning to a slaughter house. So many quaks in the system.

ibedun:


Foolish idiotic thinking. Oyinbo land is tired of immigrants and are putting up barriers to stop you. The best bet is to develop our minds and improve our country! Life is not meant for ‘show off or I big pass you’ it is meant for cooperation and building together.

I wonder where he would go to if these oyinbo people failed to put their own house in Nigeria.This kind of mentality is what is still holding us back.

Joydan95:

Where did you get your statistics from

Go to all teaching hospitals in Nigeria...
Go to all Private hospitals in Nigeria...
Unfortunately, they won't avail you the data but you can observe by yourself, or you do a participant observation.
If you had been lucky in Nigeria hospital, you're one out of hundred

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Allpurpose1:
I'm not even a doctor. I'm a registered nurse based in the US and I would have suspected that woman was bleeding somewhere. Her blood pressure was dropping so much after surgery and they kept giving her blood without finding out why it was dropping that much. Even her kidney was shutting down due to low blood volume and they still couldn't figure out what was going on. Ah, I think that untimely death was a preventable one. God knows how many patients they might have carelessly treated and led to untimely death that way. Maybe if the uk doctor was not involved, they would have given her another diagnosis and said something else killed her and most people would not know. This is so sad

What are u even saying?? I'm sorry u have no clinical idea if what is going in this woman's case.. In ur mind the obstetricians there are kids to you..


For the mean time tell me ur basic knowledge of DIC and it's possible complications in surgery in a developing country like Nigeria.