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Following the continuous exodus of medical personnel, the State House Medical Centre revealed that its medical records department is struggling to operate at optimal capacity following the shortage of trained health officers.
The centre decried the over stretched of the few available personnel across various wards and clinics.
The situation has led to longer waiting times for patients and an increasing trend of misfiling of patient records.
This information was contained in the last annual report of the State House which highlighted challenges.
According to the report in part, “The department is not able to function to its full capacity due to lack of trained personnel. Because of a shortage of trained officers (Health Information Officers), one trained officer is posted to cover three clinics and has two or more job schedules.
“As a result, patient waiting time has increased, while some other professional jobs like data reporting are left undone.
"The misfiling of patient records increased because staff members posted from the administrative department had no formal training in handling records.
“Since they were posted to complement the department’s workforce, filing and retrieving is the only job they can be assigned to do while the professional jobs are left strictly for the professionals. This has led to increased misfiling of patient records,” the report added.
The State House Medical Centre was established in 1976 to provide healthcare services for the President, the Vice President and their families, and staff working in the State House and the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
It was initially set up at Dodan Barracks, Lagos, before being relocated to Abuja in 1992 after the General Ibrahim Babaginda regime made the city the seat of government.
The Health Records Department is responsible for maintaining and preserving patient records, which are essential for proper clinical care and statistical data.
According to the report, the department aims to be a “reference point in digitalised and standard health records management” and has objectives that include securing patient confidentiality and digitalising health information.
However, the department’s staff strength is inadequate, with only 16 personnel including eight trained health records professionals, five non-professionals and three National Youth Service Corps members.
In the 2024 budget, which President Bola Tinubu signed into law, N1.33bn was allocated to the medical facility, with N441.68m for overheads and N749.69m for capital projects.
An official close to the State House Medical centre hinted that plans are underway to hiring doctors a d trained personnel to breach the shortage gap.
The official, who requested anonymity as he was not authorised to talk about the matter, said, “What I know for now is that the State House is in the process of recruiting more doctors for its VIP wing and the other clinic, and also extra professionals for different departments.”
