The Anambra State Government is set to recruit 250 additional healthcare workers as part of efforts to improve healthcare delivery, strengthen primary healthcare services and address manpower shortages across the state.
The Executive Secretary of the Anambra State Primary Healthcare Development Agency (ASPHCDA), Dr Chizoba Ezeasor, disclosed this during a capacity-building programme for Ward Development Committees (WDCs) and Officers-in-Charge (OICs) of primary healthcare centres.
She said the recruitment would comprise 200 Community Health Extension Workers (CHEWs) and 50 midwives.
The workshop, organised by Justice, Development and Peace Caritas (JDPC), Nnewi, under the Strengthening Public Accountability for Results and Knowledge (SPARK II) project, was supported by the International Budget Partnership (IBP).
Ezeasor explained that the recruitment was aimed at increasing the availability of skilled health personnel, particularly in rural and underserved communities.
She noted that preference would be given to qualified applicants willing to reside in the communities where they would be deployed, stressing that this would improve access to healthcare services and strengthen accountability.
She cautioned against political interference and personal considerations in the recruitment process, insisting that candidates must be selected based on competence, professional qualifications and commitment to service.
The ASPHCDA boss, however, expressed concern over alleged absenteeism among some existing healthcare workers, particularly Officers-in-Charge who abandon their duty posts during working hours.
She stressed that government investments in healthcare infrastructure, equipment and personnel would not achieve the desired results without discipline and commitment from healthcare providers.
On maternal healthcare, Ezeasor urged health workers to ensure that pregnant women received prompt attention, adequate information, privacy and respectful treatment throughout antenatal care, childbirth and postnatal services.
While acknowledging the state government’s free antenatal care and delivery programme in public health facilities, she emphasised that eliminating financial barriers must go hand in hand with quality, safety, accessibility and timely service delivery.
She identified community feedback as an important tool for assessing patients’ experiences, identifying service gaps and ensuring that complaints translated into tangible improvements.
Ezeasor assured the implementing partners that the agency would collaborate with them to integrate the feedback mechanism into its existing monitoring, supervision and accountability structures.
Also speaking, the Executive Director of SIDEC, Mrs Ugochi Ehiaruhuike, said the SPARK II project was designed to strengthen community participation in primary healthcare governance through a structured feedback and response system.
She explained that the initiative would equip at least 50 Ward Development Committee members and 24 PHC Officers-in-Charge with the skills to collect, document, analyse and respond to patients’ experiences, particularly in maternal healthcare.
According to her, the mechanism would connect community members, WDCs, PHC officers, local government health authorities and ASPHCDA to ensure that identified service gaps received appropriate attention.
She identified high drug costs, inadequate sanitation, poor facility maintenance and unsatisfactory patient experiences as some of the challenges the project seeks to address.
Ehiaruhuike added that standardised feedback forms, documentation guides and action-tracking tools would enable community representatives to present complaints systematically and monitor responses from healthcare authorities.
In his address, the Director of JDPC Nnewi, Rev. Fr Benedict Okoro, said the programme was designed to strengthen community structures and healthcare providers towards improving maternal and child health outcomes.
He acknowledged progress in reducing maternal mortality in Anambra but called for sustained efforts to prevent avoidable deaths among women and children.
In his remark, the Executive Director of Civil Rights Concern (CRC), Mr Okay Onyeka, described maternal healthcare as a shared responsibility and urged stakeholders to intensify efforts to eliminate preventable maternal and child deaths.
The member representing Aguata two Constituency in the Anambra State House of Assembly and Chairman of the House Committee on Health, Dr Tony Muobike, described primary healthcare as the foundation of an effective healthcare system.
He commended the state government’s investment in free antenatal care and delivery services but stressed the need for legislative oversight to ensure that public investments translated into improved health outcomes.
Muobike also expressed concern over alleged absenteeism among some PHC personnel, claiming that some workers abandoned their facilities for private businesses while others delegated their responsibilities to volunteers.
He called for greater discipline and accountability among healthcare workers, assuring that the legislature would continue to support improved service delivery through its oversight responsibilities.
The SPARK II Programme Manager at JDPC Nnewi, Mr Onyekachi Ololo, emphasised the importance of collaboration between WDCs and PHC officers in developing facility business plans based on identified needs and available resources.
He observed that some WDCs had become inactive despite retaining their positions and recommended replacing members who were unwilling or unable to discharge their responsibilities.
The training featured sessions on patient feedback tools, respectful and patient-centred care, documentation of maternal health experiences, data quality, feedback analysis and identification of systemic challenges in primary healthcare delivery.
The organisers said the project would establish a quarterly feedback and reporting mechanism through which complaints would be documented, referred to relevant authorities, addressed and monitored, with unresolved issues escalated to local government health authorities and ASPHCDA.
They expressed optimism that the initiative would strengthen community participation and institutional accountability, ensuring that patients’ experiences informed policies and interventions aimed at improving maternal and child health outcomes across Anambra State.
