No Nigerian hospital can boast of adequate personnel, facilities – CMD

By Matthew Denis
The Chief Medical Director (CMD) of Ilorin General Hospital, Dr Abdulfatahi Olokoba has said shortage of doctors and equipment is not a major challenge in the hospital.
He, however, said no hospital operating in the country can boast of self sufficiency in terms of human and material resources.
Speaking on the backdrop of allegation that the health facility has been underperforming owing to inadequate personnel and resources, the CMD said the hospital is operating within its limit.
In a chat with Pilot Health in his office recently, the medical practitioner, said the state owned general hospital could perform better if more medical doctors are posted there.
He asserted: “There is no hospital that is self sufficient in all its resources and funds in the country even the Teaching Hospitals.”
Olokoba, however said more personnel are required at the general hospital for the management to expand its healthcare delivery services.
“So for us here, if we get more staff, we will expand our services. But I must state that we’re not lacking medical personnel in the hospital.
“We are here at the General Hospital, Ilorin to serve the public and we utilises the resources available to us in terms of funds, equipment and manpower to deliver maximum benefits to them,” the CMD stressed.
On the allegation that the hospital rent oxygen for patients’ treatment, Olokoba said the claim is baseless and untrue.
“To say that in our hospital we are renting oxygen is not true. Anytime oxygen is required for emergency purpose to save life and for the resuscitation of patients, it is administered free.
“When you talk about oxygen, there are different ways of delivering it to the patients. There is natural oxygen itself and we also have oxygen concentrators in the hospitals and the other mode are through the use of oxygen cylinder, that is, pressure oxygen.
“But, when oxygen is needed for a protracted period of time for example, a patient undergoing surgery for about five hours, the oxygen will be enormous and it is an instance like that we ask the patient to replace the cost of that oxygen.
“Another instance is when someone has bronchial asthma or chronic extractive air waves disease such an individual might be on oxygen for about two days, ” he explained.