Cash crunch: FCT Hospitals adopts as POS payment option for patients

By Stanley Onyekwere

In the wake of the current currency crunch, the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), has deployed alternative measure of payment by patients, in order to ease their difficulty while trying to access medical attention in hospitals.

Making this disclosure to Journalists in Abuja, the Secretary, Health and Human Services Secretariat of the FCTA, Dr. Abubakar Tafida, said all the Medical Directors are mandated to engage the service of multiple Point of Sale (PoS) operators in their various hospital, as an alternative means of payments for the medical bills.

Tafida noted that, the directive following the challenges faced by patients in making their payment in the hospital to receive medical attention.

He also warned that the administration will not hesitate to sanction any medical officials that refuse to attend to patience and turn them back because of the current situation at across the country as a result of the CBN new cashless policy.

While assuring residents of

Service delivery: No SOP, no overhead - FCTA charges SDAs

BY Usman Shuaibu

The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA ) has issued a two-months ultimatum to its Secretariats, Departments and Agencies (SDA’s) that are yet to submit their Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), to do so or be sanctioned.

Permanent secretary FCTA, Adesola Olusade gave the deadline while addressing participants at a one -day validation workshop for the optimization of SOP manual held in Abuja.

Olusade said any SDAs that didn’t submit its SOP before April, would not access the month’s overhead.

He said: “April’s over-head will be paid only to SDAs that have submitted their SOP, since the commencement of the exercise in FCTA and the measures the administration have taken so far , it is expected that all Secretariats, Departments and Agencies should key in.

“SOP is very important to us, since we started some experts came in to see that the exercise meet the international best practice, we have to abide by it.

“This will strengthen FCT Administration’s SDAs and bring about efficient service delivery in all areas”.

Olusade also directed the department of Treasury that effective from April, over-head should only be paid to SDAs that have submitted their SOP, and have the proof.

According to him: “There must be a form of sanction to encourage submission, the easiest one we could do is to get your SOP ready before any over-head, if the SOP is not there, the over-head can not be released. So, we are insisting that finish your SOP and get your overhead”.

On her part, the Director FCTA Reform Coordination and Service

Improvement, Dr. Jumai Ahmadu, said the remaining SDAs will be encouraged to submit their SOP before the deadline.

According to her, “We have been on this matter for almost a year now, and the turn-out is not very encouraging from the SDAs that are yet to submit their SOP. The permanent secretary is clear about the FCT that the administration is doing everything possible to ease their challenge, Tafida explained that the situation is not just peculiar to the FCT, but a national challenge, which according to him, will soon be over. it, he has tied it down to the release of over-head.

“As civil servants, we take directive. I believe that the remaining SDAs will submit their SOP before the deadline given by the the permanent secretary”.

Ahmadu explained that the SOP would help SDAs do well without set backs, if guided by the Procedure.

L-R; President Muhammadu Buhari, NSA Maj Gen Babagana Monguno Rtd, Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Faruk Yahaya, Chief of Air Staff Isiaka Oladayo Amao and Chief of Naval Staff, Awwal Zubariu Gambo and Inspector General of Police, Alkali Baba Usman during the Security Council Meeting held at the Council Chambers, State House, yesterday in Abuja. PHOTO; State House