On Doctors, JOHESU, Hospitals (administration, titles & salaries) and the Patients By Prof Babatunde Solagberu

What I write here is a brief account of my thoughts.

1. We the doctors have to improve on our human relationship skills. Nothing to do with JOHESU. We relate poorly with ourselves. It took me years to notice this so I was guilty for so long. I cannot say if I am now different but others will judge but I know I have worked very hard on myself.

*We hate the truth especially when we are the slackers and we embrace mediocrity and despise excellence. Yes, you would find diligent doctors producing heartwarming results and the sloppy doctors even unwilling to change. The system supports this.
*check what we do to ourselves when it comes to appointments to posts (legendary) and worse if it is an election
*Why should the Neurosurgeon, Cardiothoracic surgeon, General surgeon and Laboratory Physician or Community health physician earn the same call duty allowances even as doctors? May be there should be a standard call duty allowances and then the quantum of your work or inconvenience on duty should then be calculated further to determine your earnings. Will my colleagues support this? So there would new struggles within.

2. JOHESU May have suffered in the hands of doctors. We despised them, didn’t work for their progress until they started having a voice of their own or working for themselves. We resisted the posts of even Assistant Director for Nursing–i saw this as a trainee surgeon in UCH. Now we have Director of Nursing Services. They got these for themselves. How can you be a leader with lack of care for your team members? However, the response from JOHESU has been violent and would be counter-productive in the long haul. May be it is part of negotiation: throw everything in and eventually when the system collapses, you would get something a little more than what you have now. He that is down fears no fall!

*JOHESU has the numbers and more money to get circulars anyhow in a corrupt country. Capitation dues by members staggering. Doctors are fewer, won’t pay enough dues etc.

*Respect must be MUTUAL.

*Whether the doctors are good or not, JOHESU thinking that the doctor can be sidelined or rubbished is a suicidal tendency that would bring the house down on everyone. That’s where we are now with the current strike.

* A physiotherapist thinking he can function without the neurosurgeon, neurologist or orthotics beats my imagination!

* A Pharmacist or Nurse thinking he can function without the specialist doctors suggests inadequate training (no insults intended).

I have said it too that
*Doctors thinking they can function without the nurse, pharmacist or others is poor, unhelpful or mediocre thinking

3 CMD positions in University Teaching Hospitals. I believe for administrative convenience, a lecturer in a University who is a Honorary Consultant specialist in a University Teaching Hospital has to choose one employer for salaries and wages then he is a staff of the University and he collects allowances in the Hospital where he is labelled no staff. On this account JOHESU says non-staff can not now head the University Teaching Hospital. Who understands the mandate more than a lecturer? I agree you don’t have to be a lecturer to understand the mandate but then also you cannot close the door on a lecturer-consultant!

All the arguments of long years in training, go and do JAMB and study medicine, privatise the hospitals (doctors) and we too can cripple services without the doctors or start negotiating how to make degree trainings to be as long as for doctors hence Doctor of Physiothery, Optometry, Doctor of Pharmacy etc are all self-serving.

What’s the way forward?
What caused all these?
Where is the PATIENT health and WELLNESS in all these struggles?

The corruption in Government is another issue that makes all these shenanigans possible! Appointments, Discipline, Circulars, discriminatory no work, no pay

These are not questions for one person to answer. I have my idea as but I can be labelled biased because I am a doctor. Suffice it to throw these questions to the public space and hope we shall get some workable, non-emotional or self-serving solutions. We know that these issues are not found in Private Hospitals or outside Nigeria!

Food for thoughts