By SOLA OGUNDIPE & CHIOMA OBINNA
As part of the restructuring of the Lagos healthcare system, new doctors are daily being recruited to replace the sacked doctors. Chief Medical Director, LASUTH, Ikeja, Professor Adewale Oke sheds light on ongoing efforts to restore sanity into the system. Excerpts

FOLLOWING the order by the Governor, Thursday last week, we interviewed 100 locum staff, and 55 out of the 100 were short-listed. Some are young; some are already in the practice. They include 10 consultants, paediatricians, anaesthesiologists,  dentists, dental officers, etc.

Prof. Adewale Oke, LASUTH CMD

The Special Assistant on Public Health to the Governor, Dr. Mrs. Yewande Adesina, helped to conduct an orientation exercise for them so they can have a feel of what we wanted on the codes of conduct expected of doctors in the civil service. The Ministry is actually using the opportunity to revamp the health sector.

Today, we have deployed medical officers to the LASEMS, paediatrics, the various clinics, and haematology department, because of the HIV affected patients who cannot afford to miss their drugs. Medical officers have been deployed to the family health department.

Restoration of activities: For now, the obstetric unit is not available because Ayinke House is still under construction. All medical directors have been implored to employ medical officers. Indeed, if you go around now, you will see that there are little activities going on.

Emergency services can be handled here. In the next one week or two we will be able to provide some outpatient services. We can prevent patients from dying suddenly. If need be, we have identified some hospitals for them to be taken to. I can assure you no patients have been turned back. I know in some hospitals, the gate men were turning patients away, but that has since stopped. Not too many patients are coming now because the strike has been on so many times, the patients have developed some form of option.

Deaths: When the strike began, many patients went home, some were discharged by the consultants, and in the wards are a few patients who have acute illness.

But as much as possible, nurses were on ground to cater to them, but some died and we cannot say it is the strike. I can say No exceptional cases of patients dying. Only one came in as an acute case, but was reviewed and died along the line but he was actually attended to.

Tired of strikes: The Ministry is tired of strikes; this is the first time in the history of this country as a democracy that the issue of strike has got to the point of sacking doctors. One good thing about these new doctors is that most of the doctors who came are actually engaged somewhere.

They are very passionate about their profession vis-a-vis their profession. If the kind of response we got from these doctors is anything to go by, we will get to the point of running the out-patients services and also the in-patients wards.

We want to prevent unnecessary deaths. The governor actually said he wants to prevent unnecessary deaths, which he wants the hospitals to be running. He directed we should ensure services are running. If you have people on casualty, severe bleeding and the arteries open, with capacity here now, we can handle it now.