Health
Experts decry manpower shortage, seek support for specialist training
By Umar Sani
Medical specialists at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital, Bauchi, have raised concerns over the shortage of skilled emergency medicine personnel in Nigeria, calling on governments and development partners to support specialist training to strengthen emergency healthcare delivery, Arewa PUNCH reports.
The experts made the call while briefing newsmen to commemorate the 2026 World Emergency Medicine Day, themed, “Safe Spaces for Emergency Medicine Teams: Stop Violence Everywhere.”
Speaking at the event, the Head of the Department of Emergency Medicine at ATBUTH, Dr Dalhat Ibrahim, said the shortage of trained emergency medicine professionals had become a major challenge affecting the quality of emergency healthcare services across the country.
He attributed the situation to the migration of healthcare workers and the limited number of accredited training centres for emergency medicine in Nigeria.
According to him, emergency medicine remains a relatively new specialty, with only a few institutions offering specialist training.
He said, “Emergency medicine is a new department that is currently unavailable in most states of Nigeria. There are only a limited number of centres offering specialist training in emergency medicine across the country.
“In the North-East, ATBUTH is currently the only centre providing this kind of training. Most healthcare workers rendering emergency services across other states have not received specialised training in emergency medicine.
“We currently have resident doctors and only a few nurses undergoing emergency care training. We need more skilled personnel because this will improve patient care, reduce mortality and enhance outcomes.”
The consultant family physician noted that inadequate manpower often places enormous pressure on available healthcare workers, increasing workplace stress and sometimes contributing to misunderstandings between medical personnel and patients’ relatives.
He also expressed concern over rising incidents of violence against healthcare workers, describing the trend as a global challenge affecting emergency medicine professionals.
“ATBUTH is not isolated from the global trend. We have recorded several instances of threats, verbal abuse and attempted physical attacks against healthcare workers. Whenever such incidents occur, we immediately activate our security protocols to contain the situation,” he said.
Ibrahim explained that the commemoration of World Emergency Medicine Day was aimed at drawing attention to the need for safer working environments for healthcare workers and improved protection for emergency medicine teams.
“Violence against healthcare workers is never acceptable. When emergency medicine professionals are threatened, insulted or physically assaulted, the consequences go beyond the individual victim. Such actions compromise patient care, disrupt clinical services and undermine public confidence in the healthcare system,” he added.
The physician appealed to the Federal Government, state governments and donor agencies to sponsor healthcare workers for specialist training in emergency medicine, noting that the cost of training remained beyond the reach of many professionals.
“We need support from the Federal Government, state governments and donor agencies to sponsor healthcare workers for emergency medicine training. This will strengthen emergency care services and improve patient outcomes,” he said.
According to him, the department has introduced measures to reduce conflicts and improve patient management, including training staff on communication, empathy and de-escalation techniques.
He added that overcrowding in emergency units was being addressed through regulated access and structured visitation procedures.
Also speaking, a registrar in the Department of Emergency Medicine, Dr Safiya Tanko, attributed many disputes in emergency units to poor understanding of how emergency care services operate.
Tanko explained that patients are attended to based on a triage system through which trained doctors and nurses assess the severity of medical conditions and prioritise treatment accordingly.
“The general public often does not understand that emergency departments are not designed to attend to every patient immediately. It is trained healthcare professionals who determine what constitutes an emergency, not patients or their relatives,” she said.
She noted that disagreements often arise when patients are informed that their conditions do not require emergency intervention.
According to her, emergency departments are designed primarily for rapid assessment, stabilisation and referral or admission of critically ill patients.
“Emergency units are not hotels. Patients are expected to be stabilised, treated and either admitted to appropriate wards or discharged when necessary. The system is designed to ensure that critically ill patients receive urgent attention,” she stated.
Tanko urged members of the public to cooperate with healthcare workers and trust the triage process, stressing that it was designed to ensure that patients with life-threatening conditions receive prompt medical attention.
Arewa PUNCH reports that World Emergency Medicine Day is observed annually to promote awareness of emergency healthcare services and advocate safer working conditions for emergency medicine professionals worldwide.
In Nigeria, experts have repeatedly raised concerns over shortages of healthcare personnel, particularly specialists in critical areas such as emergency medicine, anaesthesia and intensive care. The challenge has been compounded by the increasing migration of medical professionals to foreign countries in search of better working conditions and remuneration.
Healthcare stakeholders have also warned that violence against medical personnel is becoming a growing concern in hospitals across the country, with incidents ranging from verbal abuse to physical assaults by patients and their relatives.
Medical experts say addressing manpower shortages, improving healthcare infrastructure and ensuring the safety of frontline workers are critical steps towards strengthening emergency healthcare services and reducing preventable deaths across Nigeria.
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