Quality Healthcare: Expert Advocates Effective Public, Private Sectors’ Partnership

Chairman, Medical Advisory Committee (CMAC), Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja, Dr Ayoade Adedokun, has called for effective public-private sector partnership with medical practitioners for quality healthcare delivery in Nigeria.
Adedokun made the call at the second day of Scientific Conference/Annual General Meeting of the Association of General and Private Medical Practitioners of Nigeria (AGPMPN), Lagos Chapter, yesterday in Lagos.
Theme of the conference was: “Who Cares for The Carers: Gaps in the Health Reform Strategies.”
Adedokun also decried the absence of welfare of medical practitioners in the formation of various programmes and strategies of government intended to spur development in the health sector.
The CMAC chairman said that lack of adequate welfare for doctors had led to brain drain, burnout, suicide and increasing cases of substance abuse among the doctors.
“Most doctors are often depressed, overworked and stressed; many of them do not have a life outside their offices.
“The plights of doctors should be considered, because doctors are the only one that perform corporate social responsibility daily for patients who cannot afford to pay for their services and drugs.
“Most doctors work 80 hours a week, but are being paid for 40 hours. They also do shifts that affect their work-life balance and this has broken marriages of some doctors.
“Their present treatment is not commensurate to the value they bring to the society,” he said.
Adedokun said that PHC, being an integral part of a country’s health system, should be doctor-driven to deliver the desired benefits to the nation’s health sector.
He said that PHC was ineffective because of the absence of adequate doctors at the health centres.
“This is the reason why we keep seeing cases meant for primary centres in our general hospitals,” the expert said.
Adedokun also urged the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) to intensify efforts in advocating welfare improvement for health workers in both the public and private health sector.
He called for access to single digit credit line for health practitioners, as well as tax incentives that would spur growth and development of the nation’s health services.