CSOs rate UCTH high in financial probity, healthcare delivery

 The Civil Society Groups for Good Governance says the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital(UCTH) has creditably acquitted itself in the area of transparency, financial probity and service delivery. The Groups’ President, Mr Dominic Ogakwu, who briefed newsmen on Monday in Abuja, said they independently assessed UCTH as a pilot site for the take-off of its Universal Health Advocacy. Ogakwu said that the advocacy was aimed at keeping Nigerians better Nigerians and non-Nigerians better informed of the activities of the Federal Government’s commitment and achievements in the Universal Health Coverage (UHC). “Perhaps a way to further strengthen advocacy for additional resources for health is to demonstrate capacity for efficient and transparent spending.

 “Health financing research indicates that in order to secure more money for health, it is vital health ministries and agencies to demonstrate that the allocations would be efficiently and transparently disbursed and expended. “In a fiscally constrained country such as Nigeria, adopting robust resource tracking tools to ensure accountability  for public resources on healthcare is key; hence the achievements record by UCTH in the last five years stood out as a testament,’’ he said. He said that the Chief Medical Director of UCTH, Prof. Thoams Agan, had significantly transformed the hospital since he took over as he relocated the hospital to its permanent site. 

Ogakwu said that the groups’ independent assessment revealed that the clinical service delivery bed occupancy increased from 47 per cent in 2011 to 85 per cent in 2016 while new out-patient attendance increased from 70 per cent in 2011 to 99.5 per cent in 2017. 

He listed some recent achievements of the UCTH to include completion of Dialysis Centre with commencement of dialysis services, upgrading of Orthopaedic unit in surgery department to full-fledged department with staff complement. Also listed are Endoscopic procedure, installation of CT scan, and 3D Ultrasound machine for Radiology department. According to him, services have been introduced in specialised clinical areas that were lacking-Nephrology, Cardiothoracic surgery and Gastroenterology.

 He said that UCTH had also made commendable strides in infrastructural development due to prudent deployment of resources. 

Source: promonaija