MEDICAL SOCIAL SERVICES DEPARTMENT
The Medical Social Services Department came into existence from the time of establishment of Federal Medical Centre, Bida.
Medical Social Service is a sub-discipline of social work with primary focus on patients’ psychological, emotional, social and financial needs. The activities of the Department is geared towards meeting these needs, in addition to enhancing the usefulness of medical care to patients and helping clinicians achieve its purpose in medical treatment in the hospital.
As medical social workers, we “restore balance in the personal, family and social life of individuals, in order to help them maintain or recover their health and also strengthen their ability to adapt and reintegrate into the society.
Other interventions also include but not limited to connecting patients and families to needed and necessary resources as may be available in the society, supportive counseling, adherence counseling, etc.
Other Services rendered by the Department include:
- Screening and interrogating patients, as part of the process of accessing indigent funds.
- Repatriating indigent patients back home after discharge from the hospital.
- Assisting needy patients financially.
- Contacting and tracing of patient relations.
- Helping patients /patients’ relatives with referral cases.
- Liaising with Local Government social workers on social issues.
- Caring for abandoned babies and patients.
- Attending to road traffic accident cases, etc
- Attending clinical meetings to review patients along with other members of the health team, e.g. Mental Health and Art Clinic (HIV/Aids).
- Following up patient’s relations who undertake to pay deferred hospital fees owed.
The Department also offers services in the following scheduled clinics:
- Art clinic
- Ante-natal clinic
- HIV counselling and testing clinic
Training services are also provided for corp members and students under the NYSC , Industrial Training (IT) and Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) programs.