The Kwara State government has expressed concern over the growing shortage of medical doctors in its hospitals, describing the situation as worrisome and a major threat to healthcare delivery in the state.
The Executive Secretary of the Hospital Management Board, Dr. Abdulraheem AbdulMalik, said the challenge stems from the persistent brain drain, popularly known as japa, which has made it increasingly difficult to recruit new doctors despite approval from Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq.
“We have the approval of His Excellency to recruit doctors, but we can’t just find them to recruit. Doctors are hot cakes now. If a doctor resigns in the morning, he will get another job in the afternoon,” he stated at a ministerial press briefing organised by the Ministry of Communication.
Abdulmalik disclosed that the state currently has only 99 doctors as against the 180 to 200 required to meet its healthcare needs, noting that only 96 are on the government’s payroll. He added that three doctors who had earlier left returned to service after the governor approved a salary increase.
“The three medical doctors that left the service returned after the recent increase in doctors’ salary by Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq. We actually had 96, but after His Excellency increased the salary, three of them that japa came back. So, we have 99 right now. We’re expecting more at the moment. We need about 180 to 200 medical doctors,” he said.
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He noted that the shortage was more severe in rural communities and that the board was exploring ways to offer better incentives and remuneration packages to encourage doctors to remain in service.
Abdulmalik further announced that the board was developing a software application to enhance patient experience in its 45 health facilities across the state. The app would provide real-time information on the number of available doctors to reduce waiting times and prevent incidents of patients collapsing while waiting for consultations.
He added that the state government had initiated a retention plan to address the manpower gap in the long term. The initiative will involve sponsoring medical students in their final years on the condition that they work for the state for a specified period after graduation.
“On recruitment, we have presented a prerequisite to His Excellency on actually harvesting doctors from medical schools. The state government sponsors you as a student for maybe a year or two, and you pay back by working for the state for those two years before you japa. That would close the gap in medical staffing. Of course, this will begin in about three to four years because we are starting from their clinical level,” he explained.
The Guardian Nigeria
