Sokoto Psychiatric Hospital wards are cheaper and patient-friendly - Official

The management of the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital in Kware, Sokoto State, says the hospital provides specialist services that are cheaper, patient-friendly and affordable for the citizens.

The medical director of the hospital, Professor Shehu Sale, said so during an interview with reporters on Monday in Sokoto.

He commended the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (Retired), and the Ministers of Health for their support and encouragement to the hospital management who ensured the facelift of the hospital as well as the complete upgrade of the establishment. Sale promised to remain unwavering in his determination to always provide affordable and excellent services to patients.

The doctor said that the hospital is currently hosting a total of 17 visiting consultants, who are specialists in different medical fields, among other professionals.

"The hospital has world-class equipment such as mobile digital x-ray machine, mobile ultrasound machine, ultrasound machine, digitized medical records and diagnostic system, occupational therapy and modern laboratory tools,” Prof. Sale revealed.

He revealed that the federal government has also funded major new projects in its COVID-19 interventions at the hospital.

These, he said, included constructing and equipping an intensive care unit, constructing and equipping a molecular laboratory, constructing and equipping a isolation center and the purchase of personal protective equipment.

He said the completed projects are already having a positive impact on service delivery and the protection of hospital staff and patients.

According to him, the projects will also provide improved health care to hard-to-reach communities, in line with the government's commitment to provide essential health services.

Sale noted that the total number of beds and the number of staff had been increased, while the restoration of full accreditation status of the hospital's post-basic psychiatric nursing school had been carried out. .

He said the patient feeding system, laundry, drug administration, sanitation of the hospital environment had been carried out to the best standards while worker welfare was a priority , as granted by the unions.

He further explained that over the past five years, the management has refurbished and modernized all services, including the administrative block and staff quarters of the hospital to modern standards, and undertaken the construction of gates, perimeter fence, road networks, public lighting. , laboratories and pharmacy.

He explained that the hospital provides integrated health services to the population through a digitized system of financial and administrative records, as well as a regular supply of solar and conventional electricity.

He added that the FG had awarded another contract for the construction of the Regional Women and Children's Drug Treatment Center at the hospital, which would cater to the diverse health needs of the vulnerable sub-population.< /p>

He added that the center, along with the established family health clinic, would address people's negative perception of mental health issues and reduce the stigma associated with hospital services.

On hospital transformations, the medical director explained that the tariffs of hospital services have been readjusted to complement the progress of society in terms of consumables, reagents and other situational changes that have affected individuals and organizations globally.

He noted that management has automated hospital services in accordance with global best practices of centralized payment system, medical diagnosis, medical consultation and global medical records.

According to him, the progress made so far in the hospital, especially in terms of modernizing existing facilities and consolidating the development of skilled manpower, has all been facilitated by the Federal Ministry of Health. Health, which was the supervisory ministry.

"Recently, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission supported the hospital with rehabilitation and patient empowerment equipment.

"The gesture was intended to promote a public health approach to addressing substance use disorders by providing facilities and services that would improve the treatment and recovery of people with substance use disorders. .

“It was based on guided reports from the 2019 ECOWAS Empirical Survey of Drug Treatment in Member States and the National Drug Use Survey conducted,” he said. added.