…As National Hospital trains staff on improved service delivery***

The management of Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) Plc has reiterated its commitment to bridge the metering gap in its area of jurisdiction.

It’s General Manager, Mr Godwin Idemudia, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Friday that the company had commenced the installation of over 200,000 meters to various customers within its network.

He said the metering exercise was in progress, pending the commencement of the Meter Asset Providers scheme by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), which EKEDC had fully complied with.

Idemudia said over 100,000 customers had been provided with prepaid meters, which had reduced the metering gap within its operational network.

He said the company had installed 49,260 single phase meters and about 51, 156 three phase meters from Oct. 2013 to Nov. 2018.

The EKEDC’s spokesman said apart from the over 100,000 prepaid meters, the company also installed 1,000 Distribution Transmission Meters (DTM) to ensure accurate billing of its customers.

Idemudia said most of the communities that were not on prepaid meter had DTM on their transformers to capture energy consumption.

According to him, the energy recorded by the DTM is used to bill customers who are not on prepaid meter at the end of the month.

“Let me assure our customers that metering is an ongoing exercise and EKEDC will continue to ensure that more customers in the network are metered.

“All customers within the network from Apapa, Ijora, Agbara, Mushin, Ijeshatedo, Suru-Lere, Ibeju-Lekki, Ajah, Ikoyi, Victoria Island to Lagos Island benefited from the metering exercise.

“This is to reduce the rate of estimated billing of our customers, it is a gradual process, but I can assure you that no one will be left behind,” he assured.

Idemudia, however, warned consumers within its network against paying its personnel for installation of the company’s prepaid meters.

According to him, complaints have reached the company that some of its officials are collecting money for installation from consumers who had been given meters free.

The general manager said the response time to faults had reduced lately, and that once customers report faults through the company’s customer care service, such faults are being taking with all seriousness.

“This, has also reflected on the improvements in power supply, speedy response to faults, convenient means of payments, reduction in ATC & C losses and increased customer resolution.

He said the company’s customer care staff had undergone a series of training to attend to all the complaints of customers.

“For the future, the company has spent more than N200 million on extensive training of EKEDC personnel to improve their performance, large investments in IT and electricity equipment’s among several ongoing efforts.

“All I can say is that the future is looking very bright for our customers,’’ Idemudia assured.

In the meantime, Dr Jafaru Momoh, Chief Medical Director of National Hospital, says the hospital has commenced orientation and re-orientation of staff, to ensure improved service delivery.

Momoh who disclosed this in an  interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Abuja identified patients optimal care as the priority of the hospital as well as any health worker.

Momoh urged patients, relatives among other clients to report any unwholesome attitudes or ill-treatment of any member of staff in the course of access care to the management.

The CMD, who identified empathy as key in any health care system, however, noted that any of the hospital workers found wanting would face disciplinary action as was done in the past.

He emphasised that the health and well-being of any patient lied solely on the attitude of health workers, adding that they deserved the right to quality and effective health care.

Momoh noted that the hospital in its quest to ensure quality health care service, had engaged in continuous orientation and re-orientation of its workers, to ensure empathy in patient-care.

According to him, the hospital has also created a suggestion box where patients and relatives that are maltreated can lay complaints and I assure any medical practitioner found wanting of such attitude will be severely punished.

This he noted would further checkmate health workers’ attitude or excesses toward patients.

“What the hospital is doing is to make sure its match its excellence clinical services, the attitudinal change of our staff to our patients.

“We have in the past few months commenced the process of orientation and re-orientation of our staff in terms of attitude and quality of care of our patients.

“To checkmate this we have feedback system or mechanism in place for patients, relations among others to get back to management if they feel they are not properly treated with empathy.

“We advise patients, relations to report any issue that they may have come across and not happy about in the course of accessing health to management and we will ensure such issues are properly addressed,” Momoh assured.