Officers of the Department of Health Information Management (HIM), Federal Teaching Hospital, Ido-Ekiti (FETHI), bombarded the hospital’s Chief Medical Director, Dr Adekunle Ajayi with many requests padded like questions at her two days 5th Annual Departmental Seminar tagged: “Rebuilding the confidence of Health Records Practitioners in facing the challenges of health care delivery in 21st century”.
The seminar, which was declared opened by the CMD on Wednesday, had in attendance some Top Management Committee Members of the hospital.
Declaring the floor opened for participants, Dr Ajayi commended the department for the initiative and promised to always be part of such intellectual gathering.
Head of the Department, Mrs Bimbo Afolabi expressed her heartfelt gratitude to the CMD for digitalising the activities of the department, adding that until other departments and the medical doctors key into the process, the expected effects may not be felt.
During the interactive session, where participating audience were allowed to ask questions and answers were provided under a comfy atmosphere with the CMD’s sense of humor, Mrs Afolabi left no stone unturned in making her request for the department known.
Acknowledging the role of the department in hospital setting, Dr Ajayi said, “Health Information Management is as key as Personnel Management. You must know your relevance in the placement of things as health information officers. You are an integral part of the system. Without relevant information, we cannot take decisive decisions as managers.”
He admonished staff to key into the Infectious Disease Control Programme of the hospital and cultivate the habit of regular hand washing to enjoy good hygiene, advising that, “It is important as officers to watch your hands regularly and maintain appropriate distance while communicating with patients.”
On constraint caused by limited space, he said, “When it comes to the issue of space, there is no hospital that is self-sufficient. One of the reasons why we need managers is because those resources are not sufficient and we need to manage the available ones. Hence, the responsibility of managing limited resources lies on everybody. But I want to assure you that the hospital will look into your requests,” the CMD promised.
Mrs Afolabi later gave an Award of Excellence for the CMD on behalf of the department.