Lagos Tells Health Workers To Shape Up On Service Delivery

Lagos Tells Health Workers To Shape Up On Service Delivery

The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, has threatened to sanction health workers who fail to abide by the ethics of the profession and the state service charter aimed at promoting quality service delivery in the sector.

Speaking at the service charter launching for three health facilities in Lagos, yesterday, Idris maintained that the ministry was in the forefront of health workers providing quality services.

He said all health workers in the state must at all times provide quality services to patients, as dictated by the profession and the state service chatter, while those who do not comply would be sanction appropriately.

“For other health workers, we are on their toes. We are very committed to this programme and it is in their interest to conform with the guidelines we set, because that is what we are here to do. “Any health worker that does not confirm to this is not serving the people, and it is either they confirm or we take necessary sanctions.
“We must remember that as a state, we are inundated practically every day with petitions and complaints about our services and even staff by citizenry that have awakened to their rights to social services as provided by government.
“It is, therefore, of necessity that the state’s health sector rises to the occasion by upping the ante with respect to the quality of service delivery, while incorporating customer service into our ethos,” Idris stressed.He said the service charter has helped in making staff look at patients more as customers and their responsibility; hence less complaints about staff attitude, as they are more conscious that they are there because of the people and without them, they have no job as health workers.

“In spite of the giant strides made, the health family still has a lot to address, in terms of the public perception of our services, which remains largely below par.
“A significant proportion of Lagos residents still seek our services, as they believe the public sector, for two main reasons-: the relevant technical expertise, in terms of plethora of specialists, as well as general affordability of services, in contrast to the private sector.
“That being said, we should, however, be very aware of the fact that in spite of the patronage, expectations of quality of service, in terms of customer service, and by extension, quality of service, remains low.“For me, service charter is and remains a valuable tool to facilitating a sure progression towards improving the quality of services in our facilities,” he stated.