Pharmacists Decry Inadequate Facilities, Personnel at UDUTH

The Association of Hospital and Administrative Pharmacists of Nigeria has decried what it described as inadequate facilities and personnel at the Usman Dan Fodio University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto.

The association’s position is contained in an executive summary it issued after its visits to health institutions in Sokoto and Zamfara states.

The summary sent to The Punch on Thursday by the National Vice Chairman, AHAPN, Dr Kingsley Amibor, quoted the National Chairman of the association, Martins Oyewole, as lamenting the inadequate number of pharmacists at the institution (14 registered pharmacists and 25 pharmacy interns only) which, he said, fell below the World Health Organisation and Pharmacists Council of Nigeria’s standards expected of a leading teaching hospital like UDUTH.

The summary read, “He also decried the absence of a purpose-built pharmacy department in the hospital, as it is the practice in other teaching hospitals, and advocated the restructuring of the pharmacy department, in line with Pharmacists Council of Nigeria’s requirements for a 1000-bedded hospital. He added that individualised patient care had become the order of the day in patient care all over the world, hence restructuring had become inevitable.”

“The national chairman informed the management team of UDUTH that the National Orthopedic Hospital, Igbobi, Lagos, was one of the hospitals in the country with a very functional Drug Revolving Fund , which he called a sine qua non for continuous drug availability in hospitals. He encouraged UDUTH management to take a leaf from Igbobi in setting up its own version of Drug Revolving Fund. He however commended the medical director for the quality healthcare services rendered by the teaching hospital to the teeming population of Sokoto and environs, even with the institution’s challenges.”

In her response, the Deputy Chairman, Medical Advisory Committee, Dr Constance Shehu, who stood in for the Acting Chief Medical Director, confirmed that there were challenges faced by the hospital and expressed the readiness of the management to receive constructive criticism towards improvement.

In Zamfara State, where they were received by the management of the Federal Medical Centre, Buzau, the Medical Director of the centre, Dr Jabirus Mohammed Ana, the national chairman of AHAPN challenged the management to employ additional pharmacists in the state, “so that the populace can benefit from the dividends of pharmaceutical care, which has become the order of the day in pharmacy practice worldwide.

And in Kebbi State, and in particular, the Federal Medical Centre, Birnin Kebbi, the visiting team was informed of the challenges, including the issue of inadequate personnel. The national chairman promised that the NEC would look into the issues raised.