Enugu, – The Enugu State Government has commenced plans to deploy four consultants each to the seven district hospitals in the state to enhance effective healthcare service delivery.
Dr Fintin Ekochin, the state Commissioner for health made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Enugu on Friday.
Ekochin said that it had concluded talks with various medical councils to deploy services of their consultants to the district hospitals in the state.
“We have gone into this initiative in order to get quality manpower at the district hospitals to lessen the burden at the tertiary health institutions in the state.
“A situation where people with minor ailments come to the tertiary institutions is never the proper flow, so we want to create a two way referral process.
“Forward Referral from the district hospitals to tertiary or teaching hospitals or Backward Referral from the tertiary or teaching hospitals to the district hospitals for cases management after being treated by the tertiary or teaching hospitals,’’ he explained.
He said that the consultants would be given the liberty to work in any of the district hospitals they would be comfortable with and answer to emergencies.
“The consultants will be professionals especially those that deal with the healthcare of pregnant women, nursing mothers and children,’’ he said.
According to him, the state government is looking at creating efficient healthcare system meant to take care of all health needs of residents of the state.
NAN reports that the two tertiary health institutions in the state are the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH) Ituku/Ozala and the Enugu State University Teaching Hospital (ESUTH), Parklane, Enugu.