661 clinical staff resign, relocate abroad

The Chief Medical Director of University College Hospital, Ibadan, Professor Jesse Otegbayo, has disclosed that approximately 661 medical employees resigned their roles from 2020 till October 15, 2022, to relocate to other international locations, a scenario which has been taking its toll on the running of the health center.

He made the lamentation, on Monday, in Ibadan, at a media briefing to mark the 65th founder’s day of the sanatorium.

Otegbayo stated, “Every week, I receive approximately 15 resignation letters; there are greater nurses than medical doctors and pharmacists. The movement of health workers will keep for a while, I must confess, but the outcomes are not going to be accurate for Nigeria because, within the next 5 years, we will experience full impart.”

He, however, noted that the Federal Ministry of Health had already instituted committees to look at the retention of health workers.

According to him, the committee of CMDs of tertiary hospitals has also made suggestions on this to different committees, including asking that the government ensures full replacement of staff that left.

Otegbayo said challenges faced by the hospital in providing training, research, and health care services also included the high cost of diesel to incessant electricity supply from the national grid, bureaucratic bottlenecks in replacing existing staffing, and negative perception and high expectations from the public.