The General Hospital Somolu (GH Somolu) has never mismanaged the indigent fund scheme given to the facility by The Chairman of Somolu Local Government.
The MD/CEO of the hospital Dr. Mustapha Adebola Quadri stated this in a statement made available to the media, following the allegations of mismanagement of fund made against the hospital, by the Executive Director of Human Rights Monitoring Agenda ( HURMA) -Comrade Buna Olaitan Isiak in the media.
Quadri said: “It is important to note that the indigent fund scheme has been implemented with a high level of diligence, transparency, and accountability. This is as a result of the fact that a structured framework is in place, led by the Social Welfare Department of the facility; to identify genuinely indigent patients or clients sent from the Local government or the human rights team through established socio-economic assessment protocols or written referrals.
More so, this process is designed to ensure that only eligible patients benefit from the fund, thereby promoting fairness and sustainability.
In addition, all disbursements from the indigent fund are properly documented, with records maintained for review.
Periodic internal reviews are conducted and reports are made available to the appropriate local government authorities.
The hospital management has consistently encouraged oversight and has remained open to constructive engagement aimed at strengthening the scheme.
I also appreciate the fact that a form was designed to keep records of the indigent patients attended to.
Unfortunately, while I was still going through the indigent patients form, in order to make some corrections, for instance; the form stated that the hospital must write the names of the patients and their ailments which are against Physicians’ Hippocratic Oath – an ancient, foundational ethical code for physicians, pledging to uphold patients’ well-being and confidentiality first; only for HURMA to write a letter falsely accusing the Social Welfare Department.
I think this is not fair for the management to which HURMA has access.
Further more, there is need to put the records straight that contrary to the assertions of HURMA:
* There was never a time the fund was up to two million naira (N2 million) as stated in the letter.
* And there was also never a time a Comrade Monsur Akinyemi visited the Welfare dept for any sort of complaints as stated in the letter.
*The monthly health/media intervention scheme meant to take care of the medical needs of indigent patients from Somolu was never initiated by The Human Rights Monitoring Agenda (HURMA).
The former Chairman of Somolu Local Government Honourable AbdulHameed Salau bought the idea when management sold it to him and he promised to support the facility with the sum of N1 million, which was recently increased to N3million by the current Chairman-Honourable Lateef Ashimi.
* It is also pertinent to note that the points made by Comrade Isiak with regard to not giving drugs to patients when they are available as well as sending indigent patients away are lacking in truth and candor.
The truth is; that the hospital dispenses available drugs to indigent patients under the scheme free of charge. The hospital does not chase away indigent patients from Somolu rather, the medical social welfare department as the coordinating department, uses a template to decide who actually is indigent to avoid abuse.
In as much as challenges exist, particularly in the face of increasing patient load, occasioned by the hospital’s prompt and excellent service delivery and necessary referrals that cannot be covered under the scheme or handled by the hospital; these factors and some others misunderstood by the public can sometimes create a perception of underutilization or inefficiency.
However, it is important to emphasize that such challenges are systemic and not due to a lack of transparency or commitment on the part of the hospital.
In addition; all patients seen in the facility have to be on the electronic medical record (EMR) systems for proper documentation and information preservation.
The management and staff remain fully committed to continuous improvement and are currently exploring additional measures to enhance transparency including more frequent stakeholder briefings, provision of dedicated cards for beneficiaries, a dedicated medication shelf for the scheme and improved public communication on fund utilization as well as strengthening collaboration with civil society organizations.
Also, the management and staff welcome the opportunity to engage further with the public and organizations to address any specific concerns and to work collaboratively towards optimizing the impact of the indigent fund for the benefit of the most vulnerable members of the community.
l sincerely appreciate your interest in safeguarding equitable access to healthcare and ensuring accountability in public resource management. These values align strongly with the institutional mandate and guiding principles of The General Hospital Somolu.
Thank you once again for your advocacy and interest”, he concluded.
