Why hospitals are recording low attendance in Taraba State – CMD

The Chief Medical Director (CMD) of Taraba State Specialist Hospital, Jalingo, Alex Maiangwa, says hospitals in the state are recording low attendance.

He cited the country’s economic challenges as one of the reasons for the development.

Mr Maiangwa spoke to PREMIUM TIME exclusively in Jalingo on Friday.

He said the economic situation is forcing people to adopt alternative healthcare services.

“I believe the low number of patients in the hospital is a result of the current economic challenges

“The challenges have affected healthcare delivery in so many ways because it has greatly affected the purchasing power of people, and because they don’t have money, they shun qualitative healthcare or resort to herbal or traditional treatment.”

Mr Maiangwa, a consultant obstetric gynaecologist, said the Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy recently introduced by the state government was also affecting service delivery in the hospital.

He said funds generated now go into the TSA, so hospitals can no longer spend from the funds as they used to.

“We are facing a very serious challenge due to the TSA policy, although we are not against any decision taken by the government

“We appreciate the TSA; however, it is affecting hospital services. TSA is the major factor in the out-of-stock syndrome (OOS) in public health centres, as you can google and verify.

“OOS is a public health issue that occurs when an essential drug is unavailable at the point of care. It’s a common problem in public hospitals.

“When we were revolving, when we had access to our funds as a hospital, we were even supplying FMC (Federal Medical Centre) with materials because the TSA was constraining them, but now, because of the TSA, getting drugs and other basic items is becoming difficult for us.

“We are still trying and we are still working on it to see how we can address the issue by reaching out to all those concerned in government.

“The government should rescue us. Everything depends on the government; they need to excuse the medical profession from some policies ”

Mr Maiangwa also lamented a recurring power outage and increase in petroleum prices.

He said his hospital depends on diesel and solar energy to power life-saving equipment and essential services in its theatres, diagnostics centres and wards.

“The issue of electricity is one of the major challenges but His Excellency (Governor Agbo Kefas) has been working to address the issue.

“He came here himself and directed the installation of solar lights. There is already a solar plant that supplies the accident and emergency unit, the children ward and the maternity ward.

“One of our theatres also uses solar; when there is no light, it is powered 24 hours, and there are plans to power the entire hospital, including solar street lights along the walkways.

READ ALSO: Supreme Court voids National Lottery Act, affirms states’ exclusive powers over games of chance

“We operate round the clock and cannot afford to run out of power due to the kind of equipment we are using,” he said.

Mr Maiangwa said the greatest challenge of the hospital is inadequate manpower.

“Even if you have the best equipment, the hospital needs specialists to operate them, which we lack.”