By Doris Obinna
Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) has called on the Chief Medical Directors (CMDs) and Medical Directors (MDs) to invoke the waiver clause provided in recruitment of staff to replace those who have left the service to appoint pharmacist consultants pending the establishment of vacancies solicited from the office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.
PSN wants the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH) to convey a tripartite consultative meeting. The meeting to include; PSN, Nigeria Union of Allied Health Professionals (NUAHP)/ Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU) and the committee of CMDs/MDs of FHIs to jointly strategise and resolve all grey areas in the quest for the full implementation of the consultant Pharmacist cadre in Nigeria.
PSN in the letter to the FMoH, said: “We assure you of our willingness to remain invaluable partners who add value to the team concept as we re-engineer the health system in Nigeria.
“In 2020 and 2021, official circulars were issued from the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF) and the Federal Ministry of Health to actualise the consultant cadre in pharmacy practice in Nigeria.
“Despite this landmark development which has birthed the consultant cadre in states like Niger; it started in 2013, Edo, Ondo, Oyo, Ekiti, Bayelsa and others, we are still stuttering at the Federal level.
“The setbacks in the totality of the implementation of the consultant pharmacist cadre after the 2020 and 2021 approved circulars were issued were inspired by the unfortunate style of the immediate past Health Minister, Dr Osagie Enahire, who actually gave directives to the CMDs/ MDs not to comply with those establishment circulars tacitly.
“At a recent consultation of the CMDs/MDs of the FHIs, we are well briefed that there is a paradigm shift to do the needful which is apparently a step in the right direction.
“It is also noteworthy to put on record that a few of the chief executive of the FHIs have actually taken bold steps to appoint some eligible Pharmacists as consultants who are appropriately designated in their institutions. We at PSN seriously commend this seeming drift towards progress, which will impact on the Health system.
“The PSN wishes to draw the attention of the FMoH to the obvious principles of task shifting in climes like, Canada, UK, Australia where inefficiency less productivity and delayed waiting times to access care by physicians have compelled a need to empower pharmacists with more responsibilities within the limits and scope of their professional calling.
“It is, therefore, important that the Federal Government must leverage on this same principle to bring about resourcefulness, fruitfulness and greater impact in the totality of the care process in our Health system.”
PSN also added that it observed challenges in two major areas; a non-uniformity in the proposed approach for the implementation of the pharmacist consultant cadre in the FHIs:
“Also, some chief executives of the FHIs still are hinging their non-compliance with circulars of the FMoH on the delays in releasing vacancies for pharmacist consultants by the approved establishment template which is the OHCSF.”
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