Unqualified personnel flood government hospitals as health record officers as less than 20 % are qualified and licensed to take and keep records, Registrar of the Health Records Officers Registration Board of‎ Nigeria, Alhaji Mohammed Ibrahim Mami has said. He stated this yesterday when the Minister of State for Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire visited the headquarters of the Health Records Officers Registration Board of Nigeria in Abuja. Mami said hospitals and clinics in the country are still far from getting maximum impact of the board because they recruit untrained persons to man health records departments, adding that there are few trained health records managers to meet the needs and expertise necessary for efficient health records management.

He lamented that the country’s health records management cannot attract meaningful international and regional recognised practice if it does not measure up to standardised heath information system. Mami urged the minister to give a directive that institutions and persons engaging in electronic health records system should meet certain standards before being employed or going into operation. The registrar also called on the minister to develop a memo to the National Council of Health seeking to compel every health facility in the country to engage trained and licensed health information managers to manage it records department.