The Chief Medical Director of the Federal Medical Centre, Lokoja (FMCL) , Dr Olatunde Alabi, has said that measures were being put in place to reduce stress on patients visiting the hospital.

Alabi who spoke on Wednesday in Lokoja at the 2019 Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria (MDCAN), of FMCL said that the measures were such that would make the centre become more functional.

According to Alabi, the measures will enhance service delivery to patients, which will make the centre to remain the most patronised in the state.

Speaking on the theme of the AGM: ”Achieving an Excellent and an Efficient Seamless Service at the Hospital: Problem and Solutions,” Alabi harped on the need for staff to have a change of attitude to duty.

He said that the hospital on its part would continue to provide the necessary equipment and encouragement for the staff to put in their best.

The Chief Medical Director lauded the MDCAN for its various assistance to the centre, urging all other associations to emulate them.

The Chairman of MDCAN, FMCL branch, Dr Ayo Ogunmola, said that the lecture was organised as part of efforts to make the hospital a centre of excellence in service delivery.

Delivering a paper on the theme, a Consultant Opthalmologist , Dr Osayande-Osawe Osa, suggested a role definition for staff and process re-engineering for the hospital to enhance its service delivery.

Osa also explained that right employment policy and empathy for patients would bring about quality service delivery that would meet the expectations of patients.

” Vital part of any health system is good service delivery and a fundamental input into the population,” he said.

He, however, stressed the need for quality personnel and adequate infrastructure that would lead to achievement of customer – oriented service.

Also speaking, Dr Daniel Ajogbon, a Consultant Psychiatrist, who spoke on ”Coping with Stress at the Place of Work”, stressed the need for individuals to learn how to manage stress.

He said that stress could occur if the load of work was too heavy or light on individuals.

Ajogbon also harped on the need for the centre to make its service delivery compact, to reduce stress on patients.

In his brief comment, the Chairman of the event, Dr Ayodele Omonogu, said: ”a health service not well delivered is a waste”.

He said that many patients had lost their lives as a result of wrong medication, saying the only way to reduce this was through quality health service delivery.

Highlight of the event was the donation of two couches to the centre by the MDCAN.

Present at the event were top management of the centre, the representative of the Kogi State Commissioner for Health, Dr Benjamin Akpa and other professionals.