One would think that being the main referral hospital of the country, which receives critical patients from the other health facilities across the country and also being a place where doctors and other health workers are expected to be trained on the best standards of patient care, the Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital [EFSTH] will be given due attention by any government that presides over the affairs of the people.
Unfortunately, for our country this has not been the case under the former government of Yahya Jammeh. So far nothing has changed under the new Coalition Government of Mr Adama Barrow either. Since the new government took over and the subsequent appointment of the Health Minister the situation in EFSTH, which was inherited from the former regime, is getting worse by day without any effort being seen to be done by the government to improve it. Almost two months after her appointment we are yet to know who our health minister is. She didn’t come even once to see how things are going on and know the problems we face in our daily work. It is often said that knowing a problem is one step towards solving it.
The prevailing situation under our current Chief Medical Director (CMD) Professor Khalil is deplorable, to say the least. That man who is already senile needs to be allowed to go home and have a good rest and sleep before his final departure to the next world which all of us are awaiting for instead of being tasked with heading an important institution like a teaching hospital when our country is not lacking of young, intelligent, vibrant and patriotic professionals like Dr. Samateh and Dr. Roberts, just to name a few.
The unwise decision of making professor Khalil as the CMD of EFSTH was made during the time of the most stupid president ever in the history of Africa, Yahya Jammeh. I believe they settled on professor Khalil who was unable to even effectively manage a Unit of the hospital [The laboratory] because of the fact that none of our able professionals at the time were willing to accept an offer due to the irrational behavior of president Jammeh who is fond of firing people for no good reasons.
Thanks to professor Khalil and Yahya Jammeh the whole EFSTH is in shambles. There is a shortage of almost everything: bulbs for lighting the rooms, thread, oil and sewing needles for tailors, wielding machines for Wielder men, spare parts for very essential and expensive machines, bed sheets for patients, absorbent gauze and other essential consumables. How can we continue to operate under this tool-less condition and expect to deliver quality services our people deserve? What kind of doctors and health professionals do we expect to produce in such an environment that is used for learning and training.
Whenever one makes a request to the hospital authorities, the CMD’s only response is that there is no money. He is not seen to be doing any effort after that.
The coalition Government of Mr Barrow needs to act fast in remedying the horrible situation at the main referral hospital. Let the government act if its desire is to rescue this very important national institution. Failure to act means the intention to have the EFSTH closed.
A Concerned Staff
Ends