Negligence and Inhumane Treatment in Nigerian Hospitals

“How many families are in agony and mourning the death of a loved one in silence as a result of ill care in Nigerian Hospitals today?”
 
This pondering question is born from a personal and  first-hand witness of the negligence and inhumane healthcare system at the University College Hospital (UCH)
 
My dear Nigerian people, I urge you as we start this new year to pay due attention to your health and the lifestyles you lead. Embrace a healthy lifestyle and undergo regular medical check-ups to avoid any serious medical condition. If you find yourself in need of urgent or even routine medical care in a Nigerian hospital, specifically UCH, then you are in for a rude and somewhat comical awakening!

I lost my 43 year old cousin Taofeek Osuolale yesterday mainly due to combination of things specifically; his unhealthy lifestyle and the poor state of our hospitals. He suffered a partial stoke as a result of his blood pressure, his diabetic and cholesterol numbers were off the roof and he had blood leakages in his brain. As a result, he could not talk and suffered partial paralysis.

Picture A

He was rushed to a private clinic (Picture A) for treatment where he was administered drips and medication for 3 days before I was informed about it. I rushed to the clinic to see him and what I saw and heard really baffled me.  

Picture B shows the entire set up of the clinic, the admission bed and where surgical tools were being sterilized and cleanedwas told that the resident doctor had operated on 5 patients over 3 days for different surgical operations. After a few hours I had an opportunity to speak with the doctor. Apparently the owner, who still works at the state government owned hospital – Adeoyouses the clinic for his private practice. He comes to the clinic in the morning to see his patients before going for his regular 9 to 4 weekday job and returns at 5pm. While he is away, the auxiliary nurses attend to patients no matter the urgency and severity of their medical conditions.
 

Fast forwarding events, he was transferred to UCH where I had the most agonizingly horrible experience from the most unexpected placeThis is what is driving me to speak up in the hope that it gets everyone’s attention.

Picture B

The University College Hospital (UCH) Ibadan is prided as the healthcare facility of excellence in Nigeria and for training the brightest and the best –  is it really?  From my personal experience , I strongly disagree and have evidence to support my view. The UCH emergency room was a complete mess – dirty, smelly and unfit for purpose, both for a healthy or sick human being  (See the video below showing human blood on the floor next to consulting room where you make payments for medications)
While we were on the emergency ward the Doctor gave me a list of prescriptions to purchase for IV fluids,
antibiotics, and analgesics
. In addition, I was asked to purchase basic medical supplies including an infusion giving set, methylated spirit, gloves, plaster, cotton wool and other medical items needed to treat my cousin. I was requested to pay an initial deposit and all the medical supplies mentioned  before he could be attended to.
 
On instruction from a senior doctor, the attending doctor requested for a Brain CT scan (Computer Tomography scan). On arrival at the X-Ray and CT Scan Centre, I was  informed that the machine had been down for months and was directed to a private place outside UCH. On getting there, I was told the CT scan is not in working condition and we should return in a week as it would take that long to repair the machine. 
As this point I broke into tears simply because the CT scan was the one thing he needed to determine the severity and the damage to his brain which would in turn determine the required course of treatment to give to him. I asked the lady where else we could do the scan but she did not know except that I may be lucky to find somewhere in Bodija.
 

Lo and behold, I drove down to Awolowo Road in Bodija and spotted a billboard for “Total Health Care Diagnostic center” In excitement and with a twinkle of hope, I rushed in only to be told that the CT Scan machine was is yet to

CT Scan

be installed. Eventually, I was able to get a brain CT scan scheduled at MECURE for the following morning. We did the brain scan and had to wait 24hours to receive the much needed result/report.  Our fears were confirmed by the scan – there was a large deposit of blood in my cousin’s brain.

 
How does one begin to process or fathom the thought that the acclaimed best government owned medical facility in Nigeria does not have a functioning CT scan machine?  I am made to believe that many hospitals in other states in Nigeria do not even have  facilities to practice advanced medicine.Why?
 
With each passing day, as my cousin fought for his life, I heard chilling stories from concerned UCH doctors, nurses and patients about how patients are badly treated. The staff are rude with cumbersome processes that make the experience in UCH a terrible ordeal for patients and their relatives alike.
 
In the 70s and early 80s when I was growing up the medical services were better and affordable; I even read an article that suggests that Dubai royalties made UCH Ibadan (teaching hospital) their destination for health tourism back then. Regrettably, this now verges on the realms of impossibilities!
 
My questions are:
If this is the appalling standard of healthcare service given in University College Hospital, Ibadan, where else can helpless Nigerians get affordable medical care?
With the medical care in UCH being so monetized and without adequate treatment in emergency situations, what is the government provided funding utilised for? Or is there none provided?
 
UCH pharmacy is always out of stock of essential drugs…Why is this? If the same drugs are readily available at local pharmacies, why can they not be ordered in bulk for University College Hospital where time is of the essence  for the patents that need it.
 
The ward my cousin stayed in had no bathroom and all patients were made to scrub their bodies on their bed with towels. Why?…..
Does the Nigerian Medical Council curriculum teach doctors and nurses not to be humane and sympathetic to patients and listen to their fears and worries?
 
As well as coping with the loss of a young family man that could have been avoided,  I am still scarred by this harrowing experience and haunted by the needless suffering of my fellow Nigerians. 
 
To preserve our lives, we need to try very hard to prevent being treated at the University College Hospital in Nigeria .

Comments(86)

  1. Adekunle oyinlade

    It is too pathetic the inhumane way people are treated in Nigeria hospital’s and the total show of no empathy on the side of the health care worker, I remember on one of my trip back home, then my husband was still based in naija, and he wor as a pharmacist for general Hospital ogbomosho, I was appalled by the way the practice medicine , pregnant women had to give birth in the dark just candle light or portable lamp, the most alarming part was that Melinda$ Bill gate foundation gave them a huge generator for them to utilize in storing anti retrovirus drugs for people living with Hiv/AIDS but can you believe that the hospital can’t provide the fuel needed to run the day to day operation of the clinic , so it was just there.
    All these human factors are what’s killing people in my dear country not even the said disease cos I work in one of the best trauma clinic in the US that’s LAC/Usc Medical Center, I have seenough first hand how people with just a breath left brought back to life due to the amazing work of the medical staff on duty day in day out.
    That’s why I always pray none of my family members fall sick .
    I have seen a lot of all this ills within the health care sector but they have let me down, am an advocate of telling my folks to go to the hospital whenever they need it and just cos the private hospitals is a wash I always say go to uch or adeoyo but alas they’re the worst in the way they treat people and their nonchalant attitude towards fellow human life.
    I think the health sector of Nigeria should declare a state of emergency, people are just dieing for nothing
    May the soul of your cousin rest in peace, may Almighty Allah console the family.

  2. Adetunji Lamidi

    This boy quite sad and a reflection of the moral decadence and corruption that has totally destroy our nation. This is why doctors and medical officers have forgotten the essence of their profession which is to 1st show care and love over and above materiality.
    So sorry for your loss, may d good Lord grant him eternal rest. The situation of this country is almost a lost battle but we shall not give up on ourselves!

  3. Adepeju Oduola

    Story of how my Mum passed away. UCH was on strike. It took the Director of the private hospital she was taken to 2 days to get a neurologist to review a CT scan results that took 24 hours to obtain. Our hospitals (public and private) can be best described as dispensaries (excluding the availability of drugs).

  4. Aj

    This is mind boggling to say the least. The government of Nigeria has failed its people! No wonder they jet off abroad at the hint of a little sickness whereas every other nation’s ruling class always use its own facilities.

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