Workforce Planning for Haematology Services in Federal Tertiary Hospitals in the North East Geopolitical Zone, Nigeria

This study analyses workforce planning gaps for haematology services in federal tertiary hospitals in the North East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, covering Borno, Adamawa, Taraba, Gombe, Bauchi, and Yobe States. The North East is characterised by high burdens of sickle cell disease, malaria-related anaemia, and nutritional anaemias, yet haematology specialist workforce data for the zone are lacking, hindering resource allocation planning. A situational analysis was conducted using facility assessments, review of Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) workforce records, and structured interviews with hospital medical directors and haematology department heads at six federal tertiary hospitals. The zone had a combined total of 11 consultant haematologists serving six hospitals, a consultant-to-population ratio of approximately 1 per 1.2 million, vastly below the recommended 1 per 100,000. Haematology laboratory scientists were in shorter supply than clinicians, with a mean of 3.2 scientists per facility against a recommended 7. Haematology infrastructure including bone marrow aspiration kits, haemoglobin electrophoresis equipment, and coagulation analysers was absent or non-functional in three of six hospitals. The study recommends targeted posting of newly qualified haematologists to underserved North East hospitals under a specialist deployment incentive scheme, collaboration with the West African College of Physicians to increase residency training slots in the zone, and capital equipment grants for basic haematology infrastructure. Keywords: workforce planning, haematology services, North East Nigeria, specialist staffing, health system.