The Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly Committee on Health has assured the management of public hospitals of improved subvention and less strenuous access to their funds as approved in the budget.
The committee led by its chairman, Hon. Moses Essien, made the remarks when they paid an unscheduled visit to three public general hospitals in the state to ascertain the level of commitment in fulfilment of the ARISE agenda of the present administration in the health sector on Tuesday.
The Assembly health delegation visited general hospitals in (Awa) Onna, Eket and (Iquita) Oron local government areas, respectively.
Speaking during his opening remarks at each hospital visited, Hon. Essien noted that the constitution and the Standing Orders of the State Assembly strategically authorise state lawmakers to carry out an on-the-spot assessment of government facilities from time to time.
According to him, the AKHA Health Committee decided to pay an unscheduled visit to the hospitals on a fact-finding mission to better understand the daily runnings of the hospitals, how the funds approved are managed, and how well their operations align with the ARISE agenda philosophy of the present administration of Governor Umo Eno.
Essien stated the oversight function has further equipped the lawmakers with adequate knowledge that the state hospitals are working and reliable, given that they have standard equipment that could comfortably handle major surgical operations, and commended the hospitals’ management for their high
sanitary condition.
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He also expressed delight at the modern medical equipment worth billions of naira at the state general hospitals.
The health committee chairman regretted that the management of the three visited hospitals was yet to fully access funds allotted to them, assuring that the committee would do everything within their powers to ensure those funds approved for them by the 2024 budgetary provision get to them in no distant time.
Equally, the Chief Medical Superintendent of General Hospital Awa, Onna, Dr. Francis Inyang, while playing host to the delegation of the Akwa Ibom State Assembly Committee, described the visit as pivotal for the development of the people of Onna and Akwa Ibom State, noting that though the management of the hospital makes returns of two to three million naira monthly to the state government, it receives only eighty thousand naira monthly as subvention funds from the government.
He highlighted that the subvention received from each hospital in the state as a running cost varies depending on the level of operation of each hospital.
“When our equipment gets bad, we usually rally around to fix it by ourselves while waiting for the government’s support, which does not come many at times.”.
While acknowledging the concerted efforts gained from the government, individuals, and non-governmental organisations to sustain the daily running of the facility, he mentioned major challenges facing them to include a lack of adequate funds and short staffing, amongst others.
He also used the medium to take the lawmakers around the facility, ranging from the haematology lab, CT scan, biochemistry lab, accident Unit and theatre suite.
At Immanuel General Hospital, Eket, the Chief Medical Superintendent, Dr. Idongesit Itaketo, said the hospital is running on a smooth course in tandem with the health programs on the ARISE agenda of the state government.
He lamented that the management of the hospital has not received ten million naira as made known to them by the committee, except the monthly two hundred thousand naira subvention fund from the state government.
Itaketo, however, disclosed that the surgical unit generates two to three million naira monthly, while pharmacy makes about six million naira, and goods and services generate two to four million naira monthly to Akwa Ibom State government coffers.
While noting that Immanuel General Hospital has enjoyed premium assistance from individuals and groups as well as a reasonable number of referrals within and outside the state, Dr. Itaketo highlighted some of the challenges of the facility, including a lack of constant power supply, quarters for doctors and insufficient staff strength.
On his part, the Chief Medical Superintendent of General Hospital, Iquita, Oron, Dr. Sabastine Noah, has said that the management of the hospital receives only two hundred thousand naira in subvention funds from the state government.
He also noted that the management of the facility was yet to access the ten million naira allotted to them, as mentioned by the AKHA team, because the fund was probably budgeted for a dental clinic, which he noted was not in operation at the moment.
Dr. Noah enumerated lack of constant power supply, dental clinic and short staffing as some of the challenges they face in the facility.
Other lawmakers in attendance were: Hon. Uduak-obong Ekpo-Ufot (Etinan); Hon. (Dr.) Itoro Etim (Uruan); and Hon. Prince-Aniefiok Attah (Nsit Atai).
They demanded to know if all the general hospitals in the state get equal amounts as a running cost and how they fix their deteriorating equipment, respectively.
