General Out-Patient Dept

The General Out-patient Department (GOPD) renders primary medical care to out patient adults from 18 years and above.

The clinics open daily, Monday to Friday from 8am to 3.30pm with the exception of public holidays.

It is the first port of call of all patients to UNTH without a referral letter. Patients are seen investigated and treated, those requiring specialist care are referred to the specialist consultant clinics. It is therefore a window of the institution.

General out-patient Department also serves as a major primary Healthcare for National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) enrollees of UNTH. General Out-patient Department provides a sustainable large heterogeneous pool of clients which has made it a regular reliable destination of choice for Medical  researchers seeking data or patients for various studies or clinical trails

OUR MISSION

  • To give prompt and adequate general primary Medicare to all categories of patients thus reading morbidity and mortality in the community by means of Prompt polite and compassionate attention to patients.
  • Appropriate treatment and referral of patients as the case may be.

OUR OBJECTIVES

  • To provide qualitative quantitative satisfactory prompt Medicare services to patients in a conducive atmosphere.
  • To have staff with high level of contemporary medical knowledge through continuing Medical education.

LOCATIONS

General Out-patient Department currently operates from 3 locations.

  1. GENERAL OUT PATIENT DEPARTMENT, SITE UNTH Ituku Ozalla is the main location of services and administration.
  2. FEDERAL SECRETARIAT COMPLEX (former Federal Staff Clinic) Independence Layout Enugu. (FOR UNTH NHIS ENROLLEES ONLY)
  3. OLD-SITE Sick bay: UNTH OLD SITE ENUGU. (FOR STAFF AND STUDNETS OF UNTH SCHOOLS)

STAFF

Doctors – 30
Nurses – 7
Administration staff – 10
Medical Records Officers – 7
Revenue Officers – 4
Domestic Services Staff – 4

SERVICES

The following services are offered by the GOPD UNTH:

Daily adult general out-patient clinic consultations and treatment for the general public and staff on weekdays.

  • GOPD is a major primary care provider for the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
  • Medical examination and certification for fitness
  • Scheduled internal medical examinations for fitness for some corporate clients
  • Pre-employment Medical examinations for fitness for newly employed staff.
  • Health education in varying health topics provided for patients by the Hospital Health education Unit.
  • Source of patients and data for research carried out by various research groups in the hospital and beyond.
  • Training Outposts for other departments like community Medicine, Medical student Clerkship, School of Nursing.

SERVICE ACCESS

Any prospective client of UNTH who is up to 15 years of age, who is not in an emergency and who does not have a referral letter to a specialist clinic, must start at GOPD to access Medicare. Clients below 18 years of age start at the children’s outpatient clinics (CHOP)

Those who have emergencies start at the Accident and Emergency Department. Clients requiring specialist care who do not have valid and current referral documents must start at GOPD. They should expect to be subsequently referred to the appropriate specialist as expeditiously as necessary.

GOPD PROTOCOL

The outline below shows the process patients go through to access care at GOPD.

  1. ALL PATIENTS – Write name at reception table Serial number given for the day.
  2. NEW PATIENTS – Obtain a card at Medical records desk. Here full patient bio data are recorded including; Name, Age, Gender, Address, Occupation, Nationality.
  3. OLD PATIENTS – Submit small card (old GOPD CARD NO.) to Medical Records desk to enable staff locate and pull old patient’s card.
  4. All cards OLD and NEW deposited by Clerk at revenue point.
  5. Patients pat at revenue point when called and obtain receipt. Cards moved by clerks to scheduling desk.
  6. Receipt and Daily Serial number collected from patient by scheduling clerk and patient’s consultation is scheduled by nurses.

Patients are seen on first come, first served basis but nurses must ensure after preliminary evaluation that acutely ill patients are seen as soon as they are identified. After consultation, clients return to nurses table for any of the following steps as applicable.

  1. Directed to pharmacy
  2. Directed to laboratory or other investigative service
  3. Directed to specialist clinic after registration of referral letter
  4. Directed to other follow-up services e.g. Physiotherapy, dietitian.

FOR NHIS ENROLLEES

After step 1, they go to NHIS desk for verification of primary care enrollee status. If current for UNTH, Client skips step 3 and 4.

After consultation, NHIS enrollee returns to NHIS desk for registration of prescription forms, laboratory request form, referral letters etc. before proceeding to nurses table as above.