Nigerian pharmacists under the auspices of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) have dismissed the call by the Medical and Dental Consultant Association of Nigeria (MDCAN) to throw out the Amendment Bill for University Teaching Hospitals.

The PSN insisted that the job of administering or managing a hospital has nothing to do with surgical skills.

The Pharmacists also stated that they see no reason why they should not be accorded their rightful treatment as the spirit of the amendment bill to the University Teaching Act was grounded in the belief that pharmacists, nurses, medical laboratory scientists and other health professionals are more versatile in their areas of patient care than physicians.

“You do not bring in your wealth of experience as a specialist physician with a stethoscope to run the hospital system. It is the same with other specialist health professionals whether pharmacists, laboratory scientists or the other experts in the team.”

Responding to the call in a press statement entitled: “Re: Bill for an Act to Amend the University Teaching Hospitals (Reconstitution of Boards etc) Act Cap U15 LFN 2004 Open all Frontiers of Restriction in Healthcare now”, the President of PSN, Prof. Cyril Usifoh argued that all that will be needed to succeed would be the depth of administrative skills or deep managerial acumen.

The controversial bill entitled: “Bill for an Act to amend the University Teaching Hospitals (Reconstitution of Boards etc.) Act Cap U15 LFN 2004” and sponsored by Bamidele Salam, representing Ede North/Ede South/Egbedore/Ejigbo Federal Constituency of Osun State, is seeking among other things, to change the nomenclature of the Head of Tertiary Health Institutions in Nigeria from Chief Medical Director, redefine the qualification of the Head of Tertiary Hospitals, and provide a definite tenure of office for the Heads of Tertiary Hospitals.

“The Bill also seeks to include students of Health Sciences in the training programmes of Tertiary Hospitals, include hospitals established post-enactment of the extant legal framework in the schedule and for other related matters and restructure the composition of the Governing Boards of the Federal Government Tertiary Hospitals.

“While MDCAN and NMA still live in the stone age that they own patients and are lords of the Manor in Healthcare, their global body the World Medical Association incidentally led by one of them, Dr. Osahon Enabulele posits that the “Physician has an obligation to cooperate in the coordination of medically indicated care with other Healthcare providers treating the patients.

“The incumbent DG of the WHO is a scientist with a bias in Microbiology. This 1986 graduate of an Ethiopian University has no background in care provisioning, but he continues to succeed in his job at WHO because of his managerial expertise. The gregarious socialisation of the respective components of the health sector which should be a confederacy of brotherhood has been annihilated by the likes of MDCAN and its acolytes.”

He further accused the MDCAN, NMA and others to have completely mutilated the configuration of their cultural historicity as regards a team concept as known globally.

“The commonality of our brotherhood remains jeopardiZed beyond repairs every time we evaluate our current realities because of the unfortunate posturing of Physicians. In the circumstance, the conundrum which the FHIs has become needs to be rescued with the proposed amendment bill which must succeed,” he added.

Continuing, the press statement reads: “After a critical appraisal of all issues raised by the MDCAN, the PSN finds it imperative to inform that the UCH, Ibadan was the foremost set-up in terms of a formal structure for the Federal Hospitals, FHIs in Nigeria.”