Healthcare professionals in Lagos State have been urged to prioritise their own health needs, while providing healthcare services to residents.
Dr Olusegun Ogboye, permanent secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Health,(LSMH) stated this at the Y2023 Continuing Medical Education (CME) programme, organised by the ministry for health workers and allied staff.
He noted that the improvement of healthcare delivery quality and the enhancement of effective service delivery in the health sector are direct results of the mental, physical, and overall wellbeing of health workers.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of a five-day CME programme held at the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, CBD, Alausa, Ogboye admonished medical professionals to take good care of their own health in addition to providing professional care to their patients. He added that maintaining good health and well-being will significantly improve the much-desired efficient and effective service delivery in the state health sector.
He said: “This five-day capacity building workshop themed: ‘Improving Quality of Healthcare Delivery’ is targeted at encouraging healthcare workers to prioritise their health needs as well as educate them on trending health issues that will enhance their productivity during the discharge of their duties.
“This capacity building exercise or workshop is in line with the direction that the Lagos State government wants to go in the development of its workforce. The main objective is to build the capacity of our health workers, especially around trending topics such as issues around epidemics, writing proper reports, proper programmes planning amongst others”.
Ogboye affirmed that the state government will continuously increase the capacity of its health workforce through regular training programmes to improve the quality of healthcare delivery in the state while noting that the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration in Lagos State remains committed to enhancing the well-being of its workforce.
In order to achieve Universal Health Coverage and carry out the T.H.E.M.E.S. development objective of the current government, he said, the state government would not waver in implementing policies and plans.
The Permanent Secretary thanked the trainers and organisers of the training and urged everyone to take advantage of the lessons learned and put them into practice in their daily lives and in the performance of their duties. He assured everyone that this would be extremely beneficial to healthcare professionals and the industry as a whole.
Earlier, Dr Funmilayo Shokunbi, director of Medical Administration, Training, and Programmes, reaffirmed that the capacity development is intended to address the health requirements of caregivers themselves so that they can carry out their responsibilities as effectively as possible.
“We are going to address the health needs of the caregivers themselves. We are going to ensure that they are also loaded with knowledge and information that will make them perform at their optimal level. We are also ensuring that we put topics that will make them relax. And all these are to ensure that they are happy with their work. When you’re happy, you are more productive”, she said.
Dr Gbonjubola Abiri, consultant psychiatric, who was a facilitator at the workshop, explained that healthcare workers must always pay attention to their health and be able to know when they are not feeling healthy so that they can seek help as soon as possible.
