By Oghenekevwe Laba
Delta State Health Management Board has denied allegations of drug racketeering, diversion of patients and over invoicing of receipts in all her hospital premises in the State. It argued that those involved in such dubious activities in the past were investigated and those found culpable have since been sent packing as a staff of the hospital.
It would be recalled that some print and social media network recently came up with a publication alleging that staff of the hospital are frustrating the free medical service of the state government by extorting money from patients who suppose to be attended to free of charge and diverting them to their private clinics and pharmacy to purchase the suppose free drugs at an exorbitant cost.
Denying the allegation in a press statement posted in Delta State Finger of God website titled, “ Re: Pharmacists, MD in Drug Racketeering Scandal as Uduaghan’s acclaimed Free Maternal Health Care Extorts Pregnant Women in Delta”, the hospital management recalled that the case involving the Central Hospital, Sapele was a chat of extortion of money from patients by a clique of nurses in the delivery (labour) ward before they were discharged.
“It was published in October 2012 as front page story in the pointer newspaper and featured in its editorial column. The ministry promptly investigated the case and summarily sanctioned all nurses in the said ward. The least punishment was demotion by one grade level. As a matter of fact, the Hospitals Management Board has between 2011 and 2012 sanctioned 152 staff precisely ranging from outright sack to demotion and suspension for various offences,” the statement disclosed, just as it challenged journalists to investigate the action and see if they would not take back their words of accusing the Health Ministry of “doing nothing” to culprits.
Describing the allegation of the incident at Central Hospital, Oleh is interesting, the statement which said free maternal programme is largely for pregnancy-related care, inclusive of hypertension, malaria and other common ailments in pregnancy disclosed that the medical records indicated that the woman was at the hospital on 28th December, 2012 with severe anaemia and a PVC (blood level) of seven percent.
“It is commendable how she was successfully managed with such a low blood level. Even though two pint of blood was administered on her the two separate payments of the sums of N4,610 and N570 as published by Sahara Reporters were outside the regular free maternal schedule. However, it is Ministry’s policy that if there is need for a treatment or procurement outside the regular or prescribed scheme, the bill should be directed to the Ministry of Health for payment with explanation. Hence, it is both erroneous and mischievous for the media to claim that the said woman paid for free maternal services without finding out the details. It was reliably gathered from records that the woman left the hospital on 1st January and no child in need of medical care came with her as claimed by the media.”
Referring to the incident in the Central Hospital, Ughelli where a staff of the hospital was a:llegedly involved in diversion of hospital drugs and patients to his private business, the statement described the allegation as a clear case of malpractice on the part of one Mr Miller Eguriase, who was a pharmacist on contract appointment to oversee the administration of free under-five drugs in the hospital.
“With time, Mr Eguriase was proven to be one of the few bad eggs in the hospital bent on given the state free health programmes negative image. He got himself enmeshed in hoarding and diversion of drugs and patients, as well as over receipting for drugs to the State’s Drug Revolving Fund (DRF). It is on record that Eguriase operates a pharmacy near the hospital which is both unethical and unbecoming of a very recently graduated pharmacist. The ministry even has a file of his request to get his pharmacy registered, and so, when his activities became over bearing, the Ministry had to sack him since he was neither a staff of the Hospital Management Board (HMB) or the Civil Service Commission based on the fact that his appointment was a temporary one. The sack, it should emphasized, was necessitated on the ground that it is needful to forestall more damaging acts, nefarious activities and also serve as deterrent to his likes.
“The media tried to amplify the ethnic card, but they failed woefully. Evidence against Mr Eguriase are just too obvious to be ignored. For instance, before his appointment, the monthly bills sent to the DRF stabilized to within expectation for three years programme. All through the period he served, the drug bills skyrocketed to over three times the usual cost for Central Hospital, Ughelli, even above busier and bigger hospitals. However,since his sack, the monthly bills for drugs have dropped tremendously to a normal expectation. What further proofs do we need to determine that such a person is not bent on crumbling the programmes, particularly if his likes are in every hospital? It is glaring the petition he wrote, as weightless as it looks, was an after thought that reflects the exact picture of a drowning man who would hold on to any straw,” the statement reporterted.
While challenging the media to investigate their facts, not the telephone or armchair style, but the physical presentation where book would be opened, the statement maintained that while they are not holding brief for anyone involved in malpractice or negligence which cannot be ruled out from our kind of imperfect society or condoned same, they argued that the free maternal and under-five programmes, despites the few but isolated drawbacks, have positively touched the lives of families in and outside the state.
“ In addition, cases of malpractice and negligence are sometimes exaggerated to give an image likened to making a mountain out of a mole’s hill. Why, for example, would a media house tie the unbecoming attitude of an official to the failure of the state government? Nothing that the government does is appreciated, even the obviously acclaimed free health programmes. This is wicked, diversionary and unpatriotic.
“We make bold to declare that Delta is the only state in the country where such programmes are implemented on a comprehensive scale in the 59 state-owned hospitals spread across the 25 local government areas. Therefore, every genuine stakeholder in the Delta Project faced with the reality on ground in the health sector, would have nothing but praise the programmes, commend the untiring efforts and commitments of the doctors, nurses, pharmacists, lab scientists, medical record keepers and other health staff who work assiduously to see the programmes progress through the years,” the statement said..