Medical Doctors are essential workers in the day to day affairs of the health sector across the globe.
But in recent years, there have been a Mass Exodus of Nigerian doctors to western countries.
This special report by TVC News Senior Reporter, Godwin Agwam highlights a major reason for the brain drain in the health sector beside the widely acclaimed remunerations.
The provision of adequate manpower is essential to operating a functional health facility across the globe.
This entails the availability of medical doctors, nurses, lab scientist and other health workers.
But in recent years, Nigeria has been experiencing an increase in the number of its indigenous medical doctors leaving the country for other western countries in droves.
Data from the Nigerian Medical Association reveals that between 2016 and 2018, over 9000 medical doctors and 500 medical consultants were reported to have left Nigeria in search of greener pastures in the United Kingdom (UK), USA and Canada.
This is as a result of poor remuneration, poor welfare packages and unregulated working hours of medical doctors.
One aspect that has completely been neglected which taking a toll on the mental health of practitioners is the unregulated working hours and this is greatly influencing the Brain Drain syndrome.
Research conducted by the Nigerian Journal of Clinical Practice reveals that in Nigeria there is a doctor ratio of 1 to 9000 patients as against the 1 to 600 patients recommended by the World Health Organisation.
This has forced many medical doctors to work for 72 hours unregulated shifts , making them burnout and also increasing medical errors.
Dr. Micah Otu is a physician with one of the tertiary health facilities in Nasarawa State.
He arrives at his office to meet patients waiting for consultation.
This forms part of his daily routine aside other clinical services that requires him to work for a 72 hour non-stop shift.
Just a stone throw within the same facility, is Doctor Noah Victor who is a pediatrician.
His story is not different from the former.
Dr. Obele Yakubu is a physician with the Federal Medical Centre Keffi and the spokes person of the Nigeria Medical Association in Nasarawa State.
He tells us how the unregulated working hours of doctors affects their mental health and it’s taking a toll on the doctor to patient care relationship.
The doctors believe that the unregulated working hours of doctors is one of the factors influencing the brain drain syndrome in the country’s healthcare system.
Doctor Alamin Usman is a Nigerian Medical Doctor in the United Kingdom who I met via LinkedIn.
In this interview with TVC News he tells us about the working hour model of United Kingdom and why it is attractive to Nigeria doctors.
Doctor Alamin and other Nigerian physicians agree that the ball rest in the court of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria to design a policy for regulations of working hours of doctors.
