The Medical Guild has urged the Lagos State Government to replace doctors who have exited the service of the Lagos State Government to avert the imminent crisis in the state’s health sector. The Chairman of the Guild, Dr Oluwajimi Sodipo, at a briefing held on Tuesday in Lagos lamented that an estimated 2,650 doctors were insufficient to cater for the population of Lagos State.“This had led to an astronomical increase in workload and pressure, especially when juxtaposed with the increase in the scope of medical services and continuous increase in the population of the state,” Sodipo said.
The Medical Guild Chairman added that the shortage of doctors in the state was affecting the quality of care being given to the patients.
He said the guild was aware of the Lagos State governor’s approval of mass employment into the health and education sectors but said this had yet to commence in the health sector.
Sodipo added that the Guild would meet on January 31 to decide on the next line of action, if the Lagos State Government failed to yield to its request.
He urged relevant agencies to expedite action on the employment of more doctors and other health care workers as approved by the state governor to avoid plunging the health care sector into crisis.
Sodipo also expressed concern about the increasing incidence of physical and verbal assault on doctors by patients, saying the guild believes that the issue was a fallout of shortage of doctors.
A former chairman of the Guild, Dr Babajide Saheed, appealed to the state government to fulfill its promises of employing and improving the welfare of health care workers.
source: Punch
