Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, on Thursday, blamed doctors for part of the crisis in the nation’s health sector.
The former President of the Nigeria Labour Congress spoke during the formal inauguration of Alliance Hospital in Abuja.
The hospital is owned by Dr. Christopher Otabor, a former Head of Communications in the Office of the Special Assistant to former President Goodluck Jonathan on Millennium Development Goals, Dr. Precious Gbeneol.
Oshiomhole said, “(Nigerian) doctors spend more time on strike than they spend in the theatre, every excuse is always settled with a strike.
“Many things have to change; it is not just a factor of equipment. If the human factor and orientation is inappropriate, facilities and equipment cannot translate into good health outcomes. There is a need to get doctors to reinvent their Hippocratic Oath. It is unacceptable that Nigerian doctors go on strike over minor issues.”
The governor added, “There is another issue we need to have a conversation on. The compensation system in our public service does not reward merit. A lazy doctor and a competent, excellent doctor with a passion for his job earn the same pay. If you have such a generalised system of compensation that does not have any connection between effort and reward, we are going to continue to have this distortion.”
He called for an overhaul of the reward system in the public service, saying hard work and excellence should be reward.
He suggested a management system where doctors would not be paid on the basis of CONTIS or HATISS, which the Federal Government had negotiated and imposed on states government.
According to Oshiomhole, it is necessary to stop a situation where two doctors with the same qualifications but different levels of commitment go home with the same pay.
He said, “The government must not lament the behaviour of its people, rather it should do something to influence such a behaviour. One way to do it is to have facilities that, just by looking at them, command confidence and you go in to bring healthcare providers who are warm and friendly; who have the confidence to address their patients.”
While commending the Medical Director of Alliance Hospital, Otabor, for the hospital facility, Oshiomhole said he was confident the initiative would help discourage overseas travels for medical treatment among Nigerians.
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