BY TIMOTHY AGBOR, OSOGBO
About 24 hours after The Point published an investigation on how Nigeria’s public hospitals are gradually turning to death-traps, the Kwara State Government, which is one of the affected states in the story, has expressed readiness to fix some of the inadequacies that the report highlighted.
The investigation, published on Monday, December 19, 2022, has the headline, “Red alert: Nigeria’s public hospitals turning to death-traps – Investigation.”
The month-long investigation brought to the fore the rot in medical facilities across Nigeria.
The investigations, conducted by our correspondents across the states, had revealed how patients, especially pregnant women, had lost their lives and the lives of their unborn babies, owing to medical negligence and insufficient manpower.
Another threatening situation that was confirmed was the reported astronomical rise in the migration of medical doctors, nurses and other health workers to foreign countries, leading to shortage of staff at the affected public health facilities.
Stakeholders in the health sector also identified the shortage of medical equipment in public hospitals as worrisome and depressive.
One of the investigations had exposed how a pregnant woman, Fauzeeyah Onaopemipo Salaudeen died alongside her unborn baby at Offa General Hospital in Kwara State due to medical negligence.
Sources claimed that the woman, who went through excruciating pain for several hours, was abandoned in the labour room by the nurses on duty. She consequently died alongside her unborn child while waiting for a doctor on December 10, 2022.
Reacting, Special Assistant on Communication to Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State, Ibraheem Abdullateef, revealed that the state governor had approved an immediate employment of 40 doctors, 60 nurses and 25 pharmacists at the Offa General Hospital.
Abdullateef, popularly known as Egghead, who made this known on his Twitter handle sighted by The Point on Tuesday, said the state government was ready to address the deficit in manpower and deepen access to healthcare at the hospital and others in the state.
The governor’s aide further noted that the death of the pregnant woman at the hospital would be investigated.
He also disclosed that the hospital’s Chief Medical Director, Dr. O. M. Abdulsalam and other members of the Hospital Management Committee convened a meeting with various stakeholders in the Offa community to discuss the state of service provision at the hospital.
“To address the deficit in manpower and deepen access to healthcare in Offa General Hospital and others in the state, Governor @realaarahman has approved the immediate employment of 40 doctors, 60 nurses and 25 pharmacists as a matter of urgency.
“For the records, the overall mortality rate for the year 2022 at OGH stands at 0.2% (70 out of 59,112 patients); 3 stillbirths recorded out of a total live birth of 1060 deliveries, & maternal deaths record 5 out of a total of 1048 pregnant mothers who delivered in the hospital.
“However, the Management has resolved to further investigate the issues leading to the demise of a deceased pregnant woman to prevent future occurrence.
“The Executive Secretary of the Hospital Management Board, Dr. AbdulMalik AbdulRaheem, said the state is also putting machinery in place to understudy the blood transfusion services in Lagos State with the sole aim of replicating the same in each senatorial district in Kwara.
“As part of the reforms aimed at ensuring patients satisfaction and preventing false media reports, the management will be rolling out dedicated phone lines to be contacted for complaints 24/7 as well as suggestion boxes at strategic locations in the hospital,” he said.
