The state governor, Babatunde Fashola, has disclosed that the government in the nearest future will begin to restrict access to its General Hospitals, as a move to encouraging the use of Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs).
According to the governor, General Hospitals would only attend to patients referred from the PHCs.
Fashola made this known during the flag-off ceremony of Eredo Primary Healthcare Centre in Epe Constituency II.
He cited the example of the United Kingdom, saying that no specialist doctor would attend any patient without a referral from a general practitioner.
"Very soon, no doctor will attend to you at the General Hospital, except you have a referral from a primary healthcare centre. What you seek in the UK is now here with you. You do not need to travel long distances anymore."
He urged residents of the area to utilise the facility, saying it has been well equipped with facilities and personnel to diagnose ailments, including hypertension, cancer and diabetes.
He also tasked them to report to the PHCs for cases, including antenatal, child delivery, malaria fever and typhoid fever. He said that the PHC would refer delicate cases to the General Hospitals where necessary.
"What we seek to achieve is build a referral healthcare system that moves from a robust and intensive grassroots healthcare, starting from a 24-hour service delivery at various local governments, through to the General Hospitals, and up to the teaching hospitals.
"This is the only way we can fully integrate, redistribute and optimise our assets. This model has succeeded in every part of the world; we want to replicate it here, to make healthcare a local success," he said.
He said the Eredo Primary Healthcare Centre is the fifth in the series to be commissioned of the 24-hour Comprehensive PHC Flagship Centre targeted at each of the 57 Local Governments and Local Council Development Areas.
He recalled that the Iga-Iduguran, Mosan-Okunola, Ajara and Ejire flagship PHCs, already flagged off, are currently providing quality healthcare to residents in the area. He said the initiative was spurred by the fact that local governments do not receive adequate allocation from the Federal Government to cater for all needs at the grassroots; hence the need to collaborate with the councils to bring quality healthcare to the people.
Earlier, Special Adviser to the Governor on Health, Dr. Yewande Adeshina, said the completion of the Eredo PHC has raised the capacity of the centre to cater for more residents and avoid long distance journey, especially for pregnant women and nursing mothers.
While applauding the Chairman of Eredo Local Council Development Area, Dr. Adeshina charged other local governments to take advantage of the collaborative effort of the state government to provide quality healthcare facilities in their councils.
She also charged residents to own the facility, access them regularly as well as report cases of irregularities in the centre to her office.
via nigerianeye
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