It’s been a privilege and honour to have served under Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq whose administration puts the interest of his people first.
The state hospitals have seen significant growth under his watch through several initiatives that have helped in growing patients’ confidence and patronage of our public health institutions.
Under him, we grew the performance of the state hospitals with over a 450% increase from how we met it.
Patient satisfaction has increased due to an increase in capacity and value amongst our healthcare workers.
The administration opened up newer service points to increase access to care for our patients.
Here are some of the laudable achievements we have made in the hospital management board under my watch since His Excellency assumed office:
(1) Renovation of several secondary healthcare facilities (MOH’s database)
(2) (a) Renovation and equipping of Kwara State dental unit at GHI to help provide services across the social strata in the state.
(b) provision of the operational funds, imprest to the unit for the first time after very long years of clamouring for same with no outcome; this has helped the unit to meet their day-to-day operational expenses, leading to a renewed commitment of the unit. This has resulted to improved performance.
(3) (a) Procurement and installation of two additional brand new dialysis machines at our apex hospital in Kwara( General Hospital Ilorin) to help reduce waiting time and provide services to both infected and non-infected patients that need dialysis.
Before now, infected patients were usually not managed at GHI because of capacity. Now more lives have been saved in the process because of the provision of service running cost ( imprest ) for the first time to the unit for optimal service operations.
(4) repositioning of Kwara eye care services, through (a) the renovation of the eye centre at civil service hospital (b) building and equipping of a mega eye centre at GHI (c) recruitment of additional personnel, both permanent and ad-hoc, to help provide quality services to the unit (d) provision of operational fund i.e. imprest ( for the first time in the history of the programme ) to help run the unit more efficiently.
(5) Employment of additional healthcare workers to state hospitals to allow for quality and accessible care to Kwarans across the 3 senatorial districts.
This has significantly changed the narrative of healthcare provision across the board, leading to over 65% reduction in unnecessary referrals of patients from rural outstations to Kwara central, as reflected in our verifiable hospital performance trend analysis.
(6) Staff salary increase across the two main salary packages, CONHESS AND CONMESS, after long years of struggle and agitations for an increase. It was reviewed upward during this administration.
(7) Promotion exercise for staff has been on point across the board, leading to a higher sense of belonging and a renewed commitment to work amongst our staff.
(8) Salaries are not only increased; they are paid as and when due, in full, as promised.
(9) Increase in hospital running cost across our 46 hospitals to help meet the growing inflation rate and also paid to hospital on a monthly basis without fail. It was designed by the government of Governor AbdulRazaq to have hospital imprest as a first line charge; meaning after salaries are paid, hospital imprest should be paid without fail.
Before now, It used to be a serious battle every month to get hospital imprest. In the past, it has led to instances where patients and their relatives will be told to give hospitals money to help buy petrol or diesel for generators before they could provide services for them. It’s now a thing of the past because of this generous and laudable initiative by His Excellency.
This has led to improved patient care and lots of lives have been saved as a result of what appeared simple but efficient initiative of this government.
(10) More than 400% increase in hospital performance through renewed confidence in public hospitals as indicated by the state hospital performance of less than 20 million monthly to over 85 million in August 2022.
This has increased the IGR to the government with no additional cost burden to patients.
(11) cheaper and quality drugs through better pricing through a robust pharmacovigilance survey. Quality drugs are now being supplied to our hospitals across the 3 senatorial districts through our Central drug distribution unit at EDP.
Before now, we were always sending some of our prescriptions out for patients to buy from the high street pharmacy, because of stock out or non-availability, thereby exposing our patients to the possibilities of buying substandard and fake drugs from high street drug vendors.
A number of lives have been lost as a result.
Equally, before now, our patients usually complained about the high cost of drugs, even for those few they were able to get at our public facilities.
However, the narrative has been changed for good. We now have cheaper drugs because of robust and fair competitive tendering process that is patient -centered. We have seen a significant increase in patronage as our prices are now far cheaper than high street prices across several frequently used drugs across all our hospitals. This has also reduced the incidence of staff selling their own drugs in our hospital because of price.
(12) initiation of pilot hospital management software across 3 hospital in the 3 senetorial districts in collaboration with SOMIL to transform our public health institutions from paper-driven to paperless. Equally, it will help to cut patient waiting time, provide a robust and quality patient data system, improve care, improve the state’s health data system for effective health planning, provide centralized health record services etc.
(13) All our state hospitals are provided with electricity and payment of electricity bills through a tokened system from the ministry of energy.
(b) This administration has provided the apex hospital in the state (GHI) with a dedicated electricity, providing more than 18 to 20 hours of electricity a day to the institution. Before this administration, GHI is usually in perpetual darkness and several surgeries were either cancelled or patients referred to UITH. However, the reverse is now the case; we now have more patients patronising our facilities than we ever used to due to improved service quality.
(14) Hospital management services have been separated from MoH for about 8 years for efficiency of service delivery, however, operating without offices to operate from.
The Agency has been working within allocated spaces/rooms within General Hospital Ilorin.
Knowing the significance of the Agency to the quality of healthcare to quadrans and appreciating the efforts of the agency, His Excellency has now allocated an office complex to the hospital management board within MoH, which is now undergoing renovation.
(15) This administration has recently completed the building and equipping of 12 bedded ICU at GHI and newly recruited 2 additional consultants in anaesthesia. The unit will soon start operations.
(b) The government has also approved the training of additional staff in perioperative/ intensivists/ critical care nurses to help kickstart the unit
(16) This administration is geared towards the provision of quality care that will help reposition Kwara state as a health tourist state, in line with such assertions
(a) Ultramodern
private amenity ward has just been completed within the GHI complex
(b) in collaboration with BOA foundation, a cancer centre project will be coming to Kwara. All preliminary processes completed, and waiting for project commencement (c) ward 8 has been renovated to provide service support for some invasive and non-invasive procedures in cardiology to treat structural or electrical abnormalities within the heart through collaborations with foreign partners.
(c) Recently working with Harmony Diagnostic to revamp their services to help provide diagnostic support to Kwarans at affordable pricing.
(17) Kwara state can now train resident doctors! This is a great achievement by this administration, because it will help in staff commitment, expertise and competence, not to mention improved quality care across our regional hospitals through community postings of these professionals to those hospitals for training. We are now accredited for family medicine and O&G.
(18) we now have an additional hospital to specially cater for mothers and children at Eyenkorin in collaboration with SDG to help promote maternal and child health and reduce death of mothers and children.
It is indeed well equipped and positioned to be the referral centre for maternal and child health in the state.
Indeed, the Governor is a trailblazer in the health sector, as he has been in many other areas, thereby repositioning the state for greatness.
Sa’ad Aluko
Immediate Past, Director General, Kwara State Hospital Management Board
