Ministry Plans Hunt For Ghost Workers

Commissioner for Health in Cross River State  Prof. Angela Oyo-Ita, said the state was poised to eradicate ghost workers in the health ministry.

Oyo -Ita newsmen in Calabar when she presented the ministry’s score card to the public, last Tuesday  that a team had been set up to audit the staff records to ensure that only staff who reported to their duty posts daily were on the pay-roll.

“It is a serious offence to be in government’s pay-roll when you are not physically working,’’ she said.

She pointed out that the General Hospital in Ugep near Calabar had been reactivated to deliver healthcare services to the people. Oyo-Ita said that the state’s primary health care had provided free medical services to pregnant women and children under five, adding that 100 nurses were also employed to enhance healthcare delivery.

She said that the ministry of health had reactivated the General Hospital Resource Centre to give access to medical personnel as well as other researchers to carry out researches.

Oyo-Ita said that cases of gross indiscipline were being handled effectively by the ministry, while collaboration with the ministry of welfare on training was ongoing. On the distribution of doctors in the state, she said 70 per cent of doctors in the state work at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, 23.5 per cent in the private practice, while only six per cent work for the state government.

Oyo- Ita said that the ministry was working closely with the midwifery council to improve on the Mother to Child healthcare development.