Doctors, Dentists Reject Bill To Amend University Teaching Hospitals Act

The Medical and Dental Consultants’ Association of Nigeria (MDCAN) has rejected the Bill to amend the University Teaching Hospitals Act, noting that the training of the Medical and Dental Professionals gives them a holistic view of all aspects of patient management.

It further stated that the Bill by Nigeria’s House of Representatives remains a recipe for disaster in the running of the country’s Federal Tertiary Hospitals, as there is a growing body of evidence, the world over, to show that Physician-led hospitals are better managed with measurable advancement in all aspects compared to non Physician-led hospitals.

According to a statement by the President of the MDCAN, Dr Victor Makanjuola, in Abuja: “The attention of the Medical and Dental Consultants’ Association of Nigeria (MDCAN) has been drawn to a bill currently in the House of Representatives arm of the National Assembly, entitled “Bill for an Act to amend the University Teaching Hospitals (Reconstitution of Boards etc.) Act Cap U15 LFN 2004” sponsored by Honourable Bamidele Salam representing Ede North/Ede South/Egbedore/Ejigbo Federal Constituency of Osun State.

“This bill, among other things, seeks to (1) Change the nomenclature of the Head of Tertiary Health Institutions in Nigeria from Chief Medical Director; Redefine the qualification of the Head of Tertiary Hospitals; Provide a definite tenure of office for the Heads of Tertiary Hospitals; Include students of Health Sciences in the training programmes of Tertiary Hospitals; Include hospitals established post-enactment of the extant legal framework in the schedule and for other related matters; and Restructure the composition of the Governing Boards of the Federal Government Tertiary Hospitals.

“This obnoxious Bill did not come to us as a surprise, as we know that the Bill could not have been from any other source apart from a group of workers within the Federal Tertiary Hospitals in the country who are hell-bent on destroying these Hospitals due their perennial, insatiable quest to take over the Federal Tertiary Hospitals from the back door.

“As much as they wish, we are convinced that the National Assembly, relying on global best practices, would not align with the forces of anarchy to destroy the country’s already beleaguered health sector.

“We would like to put it on record that passing this Bill portends serious present and future risks to the effective running of the Federal Tertiary Hospitals with consequential poor outcomes for the Nigerian patients who go to these hospitals with the hope of getting the best of care.”