How Negligence In Nigerian Hospitals Separate Families

Presently, in various hospitals across the country, there is hue and cry by people, lamenting the sudden death of their loved ones.

This has made many to lose confidence on the hospital system, while trust has drastically reduced on the capabilities of the personnel to address emergency cases.

Just recently, a resident of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr. Nathaniel Ahunanya, loss his beloveth wife at the National Hospital.

Narrating his ordeal, Ahunanya said “my wife gave birth to twins; a boy and girl through CS at Amana Hospital in Ilorin street, off Ogbomosho street, Garki Abuja.

“When they discovered that her BP fluctuates between 400 and 150, they brought different apparatus to check her. A nurse was stationed there to monitor her because she had blood on one hand and a drip on the other hand. Later on, the doctor called me to say that my wife needed an intensive care and needed to be taken to the ICU unit. They referred us to Garki hospital but on getting there, we were told that there was no available bed. The doctor now called the National Hospital and we went there.

While at the National Hospital, he said they went to the Emergency and Accident unit. “From there we were referred to the ICU unit. On getting to the ICU unit, some ladies were seated there, we told them there is an emergency and we needed admission. They said they don’t admit patients’ like that. We begged them and the man that entered the ambulance introduced himself as a security man in that National Hospital. They said they didn’t know him. They didn’t bother to even take the referral letter from us and read the content. They were just sitting and chatting inside the cubicle. We tried to explain to them about the urgency of our situation. The security man also told them that we were referred by a doctor from the Accident and Emergency unit but they said if they accept us, who will be the doctor that will take care of her. They said we should go back to Accident and Emergency unit, and they will be the ones to bring her to them before they can admit her. We tried to explain to her but she turned deaf ear.

“From there, we rushed down to the Accident and Emergency unit and on getting there, we met another doctor; who said it was delivery unit we should have gone to. We again rushed back to the delivery unit and on getting there, we knocked and a woman sluggishly came out but she was kind enough to collect the reference letter from us. She took it inside and read, then after some time she came out and said ‘oga’ this is not a delivery case, the woman had already delivered the child. She then said it is the ICU.

“Observing all the suffering, the Matron that came with us introduced herself and then began to shout that this is wickedness because they were not supposed to treat us like that. After much shouting, one woman came out and directed me to go another place to get a card. On getting there, the man was not on seat. I asked a security man I saw there and he said I should wait for the man to return. At this point I was confused. I now went close to the glass and saw a number written on it. I called the number and pleaded with the man to come and attend to us. Later, he came, searched his table but there was no card. He then climbed upstairs and later came with card and gave me to fill my wife’s information. After that he entered the record into a computer, printed a slip and asked me to go and pay the money at the cash office. When I got to the cash office, I paid 2000 naira. On my way going, he again called me back and asked me to go and confirm my payment with Accountant 2.

“After much delay and going round the hospital, on our way back, I heard someone saying, “is like they say the woman has died o!” I heard it with my ears but I didn’t believe it was my wife. On getting to that place after they turned us up and down, I saw a doctor coming out of that place and the Matron from Amana Hospital following him, shouting and crying . She was saying “Whatever you do to other people someone will do it to you. This is wickedness, for over one hour we’ve been here and you people refused to admit us”. At that point, I felt like my whole world has crumbled, knowing that I will not see my wife again”.

But Mr. Tayo Haastrup, the Public Relations Officer of the National Hodpital said “it is not true. We are doing our best and giving the best services. There is a lot of improvement in the system.

However, despite debunking Ahunanya’s story, another resident of the FCT, Mr John Danjuma a father of 4 children who loss his wife in December 2015 in one of the hospitals in the FCT said his wife was stooling and vomiting and admitted in the hospital while on drip, and started having shortage of breath and was restless.

“I called the nurses but they asked me to pay a sum of N6000 before they can give her oxygen”.

He said between 11pm and 5am, his wife was not attended to by any doctor on call despite his plea. “I had to call a family friend/doctor who then interview/spoke to the nurses and compelled them to give her the oxygen- which in the end was not working well. Later the doctor on call came and searched for my wife’s test result and found out that there was a need for blood transfusion- which had been ordered two days before that.

“I was sent to the lab to buy blood. At the blood bank they were haggling for the blood as if they were haggling pepper. I was sent back to the ward because the lab scientist said a relative is not allowed to handle blood. By the time i returned to the ward, my wife was dead.

Also, Gloria Adegbe, a mother of two children, explained that when she was in labour for her second child, she was not attended to for hours and that the placenta was forgotten in her stomach after she had delivered her child. She said “it’s the grace of God that I am alive today”.

She said the nurse who had attended to her during her delivery did not acknowledge her mistake; she kept on speaking of her years of experience, the professional certifications and training she had.

Worried by all these challenges faced in various hospitals across the country, the Executive Director of Center for the Right to Health (CRH), Dr. Stella Iwuagwu called on Nigerians to always report this unfortunate circumstances to the appropriate authorities.

Iwuagwu, who suffered similar treatment several years ago in the country, noted that many Nigerians are not aware of their rights.

She said her NGO was established out of passion to create awareness on the right of people to health and to also stand up for people who do not have voice of their own.

“We must rise up and speak against the challenges we face in the hands of medical personel. We cannot continue to die in silence. It is our collective responsibility to defend our future and those of our children”.