Asaba Specialist Hospital Moves To Boost Specialist Workforce With WACS Accreditation
By GEORGETTE CHIDI
ASABA Specialist Hospital has begun the process of securing full accreditation from the West African College of Surgeons (WACS) for its Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department.
The move is expected to enable the hospital to train resident doctors and strengthen the supply of specialist medical personnel in Delta State.
WACS Team Inspects Facilities
The accreditation exercise took place on Thursday, with a WACS team inspecting facilities and equipment in the department.
The team also toured consulting rooms and interacted with resident doctors as part of the assessment.
According to the Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Dr. Peace Ighosewe, the exercise was important because of the growing difficulty of recruiting specialist doctors amid the continued migration of Nigerian medical professionals abroad.
Hospital Upgrades Facilities
Ighosewe said the hospital had made significant progress towards meeting WACS requirements.
She explained that the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department had improved its facilities, including the provision of equipment for non-invasive gynaecological procedures such as hysteroscopy and colposcopy.
The WACS team, she added, assessed the available facilities and identified areas that required further improvement.
The team also engaged resident doctors on measures for improving healthcare delivery.
Accreditation to Build Specialist Manpower
The Chief Medical Director said full accreditation would give the hospital the capacity to train doctors who could eventually become consultants.
She described the opportunity as important for building a sustainable pool of specialists capable of meeting the healthcare needs of patients.
“Accreditations are very demanding, but it is worth it because at the end of the day, you get the opportunity to train residents who will become the next generation of consultants and provide care to our teeming patients,” she said.
Ighosewe expressed optimism that the hospital would satisfy the remaining requirements for full accreditation.
She noted that most of the issues previously identified by WACS had already been addressed.
“We’re hopeful that today we’ll be able to satisfy the needs of the college so that we can get full accreditation because we’ve done most of what they requested,” she said.
Brain Drain Drives Urgency
The CMD said the accreditation had become increasingly important because of the difficulty hospitals face in recruiting consultants.
She linked the challenge largely to the migration of Nigerian medical professionals in search of opportunities abroad.
“With the Japa syndrome, it’s very difficult to get consultants to employ these days. But now we’ve trained, it means that we have a steady supply of fellows to provide that specialty service,” she said.
Wider Healthcare Impact
If successfully completed, the WACS accreditation will pave the way for expanded residency training at Asaba Specialist Hospital.
It is also expected to strengthen the hospital’s specialist workforce and improve access to specialised healthcare services in Delta State.
More broadly, the initiative could help the hospital develop its own pipeline of specialist doctors at a time when medical brain drain continues to put pressure on Nigeria’s healthcare workforce.
