Chief Medical Director (CMD), University College Hospital, Ibadan, Professor Jesse Otegbayo, has expressed concern over the mass emigration of doctors to other countries.
Otegbayo spoke at the formal commissioning of the renovated Public Relations Department of the hospital, said brain drain is plaguing country’s health sector due to lack of job satisfaction, poor facilities, poor working conditions and remuneration.
According to him, “We are worried about the exodus of doctors, not only because of its short-term consequences but also long term effect, it will be a problem tomorrow.
“The situation in the 80s during the mass emigration of doctors is better than what is happening today, then, we had young doctors who were receiving specialist training to fill the gap created by the consultants who left.
However, today both the old and the young are leaving, who is going to fill that gap?
“The implication if this trend continues, in another 10 years, there will be a vacuum and the number of doctors remaining will be limited and not enough cater to our teeming population. It is highly worrisome,” he said.
Making reference to the newly refurbished PR department, Professor Otegbayo said that the act was informed by the management’s decision to create good working environment for the hospital staff.
“Two cardinal focus of this administration is patient comfort and staff welfare. Creating good and conducive work environment for our staff is pivotal to quality healthcare delivery and patient care. When you take care of staff welfare it will translate to how they do their jobs and influence patient care positively.
“Due to shortage of funds, we are doing the renovation and improving the facilities in the hospital in instalments, bit by bit.
“We want a hospital that is beautiful and at par with international standard, providing facilities and good work environment is part of our actions to save the situation of medical brain drain in our country,” he said.
In his remarks, the Head of PR Department, Mr Akintoye Akinrinola, commended and appreciated the efforts of the CMD.
Akinrinola: “Having a good work environment will constantly motivate us in the delivery of our duties and also help the ultimate goal of the hospital to provide good and quality patient care.”
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