By Onyewuchi Ojinnaka
In a recent report unveiled by a Lagos based human rights and advocacy group, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), it was revealed that humanitarian crisis, manifestations of corruption and mismanagement abound at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, (LUTH) Idi Araba.
The report also exposed the unhygienic conditions, severe shortages of medicines and medical supplies in the hospital and two other Federal Government owned hospitals in Lagos which has made it extremely difficult for many Nigerians to obtain essential medical care.
Apart from LUTH, the other two hospitals covered in the report are the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi (NOHIL), and the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Ebute Meta.
The report which was made public recently in Lagos revealed a sharp deterioration in the quality and safety of care in these hospitals. It observed that LUTH, NOHIL and FMC do not have enough cancer treatment machines.
Linear accelerator (LINAC), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and CT scan machines are not working optimally due to erratic power supply even as the hospitals do not have back-up plans.
According to the report, “A LINAC costs about US$5 million and the six that the Federal Government procured for six teaching hospitals have packed up. The dialysis machine at LUTH is outdated and its functionality at the time of study was not assured. LUTH recently lost its accreditation to teach dentistry because all its five dental chairs had packed up and there is no functional dental engine available.”
The 53-page report which was unveiled at the CITI-HEIGHT Hotels, Lagos was titled: ‘Failing Healthcare: How Federal Hospitals are letting Down the Poor and Making Healthcare a Privilege rather than a Right’.
The report presented to the media/public by Professor Dejo Olowu, Dean, School of Law, American University of Nigeria Yola. While presenting the report, Prof Olowu disclosed that vital medical supplies such as oxygen, diagnostic machines, dental chairs, sterilising units, burns apparatuses, were in pronounced shortage, adding that overcrowded waiting rooms and wards were noticeable.
The report was part of the highlights of the public hearing held by SERAP to provide forum for people to provide testimonies and submit complaints/petitions on allegations of corruption they encounter while accessing public services particularly in the health, education and water sectors.
The research for the report was conducted between April and June 2018, using semi-structured in-depth interviews as the primary instrument for data collection.
The public hearing was attended by various groups and professionals. Others include the representatives of the Acting Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices And Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on corruption, civil society, lawyers, the media, Freedom of Information Unit of the Federal Ministry of Justice, Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Women Associations and Artisans.
Parts of the report read: “Our researchers observed that some wards have no mosquito nets. And there is no waiting area for mothers with sick babies There is the Gynaecology ward, at which entrance a small bench that could seat about four persons, was placed. The bench was occupied by patients’ relatives, presumably. At the end of the corridor where the neonatal ward is, there is a similar four-seater bench, fully occupied. The bench, having been occupied, a group of people were standing. At the neonatal ward, it was the same case. A waiting room for mothers whose babies are on admission was not part of the hospital’s plan. The mothers have improvised.”
“A woman lay on the bare pavement under the staircase, taking a rest. Nearby was an area where waiting mothers had carved out as waiting area. A number of women, whose babies were on admission, were seen sitting or lying down on a mat or on the pavement. With the laid mats, sacks of clothes, plates, buckets etc stacked against the wall and a woman washing clothes, it was clear that many a mother stay for days in this state.”
“Another nurse told SERAP, ‘The infant incubator or neonatal incubator is a rigid box-like enclosure in which an infant can be kept in a controlled environment for observation and care. Some of the incubators in LUTH are not working. It is either the heater is bad, or the monitoring mechanisms are not working. The incubators available in LUTH have been in use for over 15 years.’”
“A nurse, who has worked for four years in LUTH spoke to our researchers: ‘Some beds in different wards are too old to still be in use, but LUTH knows how to manage. Some of the available beds have become dilapidated. Some beds can cause accidents. They have beds from which patients can fall. It has really happened, and I’ve seen it happen. But they keep managing.’”
“Another medical staff said, ‘Even bed sheets are in short supply. Patients use their wrapper for bed sheets sometimes. And when they use LUTH bed sheets, they are usually old and torn most of the time. Toilets in LUTH are centres of disease distribution. You can be sure to get urinary tract infections and the like. I am referring to the toilets in different wards.’”
“According to a senior doctor who spoke to SERAP, ‘There is poor water supply in LUTH and water is supposed to be an essential commodity, especially in a hospital. It’s deplorable to the extent that water does not run in the taps. You are seeing LUTH’s flowers and wall paints, but it is rotten inside. I will be right to say things are not working optimally in LUTH.’”
“At all the three study sites, derelict and obsolete equipment were commonplace. Most wheelchairs in LUTH are stiff and old. They are not in optimal condition. There is a poor maintenance culture. Not even the lifts are working well. One can easily get stuck in an elevator; so it is better to use the staircases. The lift in E Block is bad to the extent that they got a man to manually operate the lift when people enter and are in transit. It doesn’t even have doors anymore.”
“LUTH has its own laboratories but the doctors their prefer to refer patients to the private laboratory because private lab are considered to be more efficient and delivered results quicker.”
“16-year-old Ngozi Eze (not the real name), who was diagnosed with stomach obstruction and was referred to LUTH for an urgent surgery to avoid complications, shared his experience with us: ‘When we got to LUTH, we were told there was no bed in the general ward. We were referred to the VIP section and they said I would have to wait for about three weeks before the surgery could be done, because such surgeries are pre-booked; this was despite that my condition was critical. At the end of the day, we had no choice but to return to a private hospital where the surgery was eventually done.’”
“Another nurse at LUTH said, ‘The facilities are overstretched. To see a specialist on clinic days you have to leave your home by 4am or 5am to be at LUTH by 6.30am to join the queue early. Even at that, there are no guarantees you will be attended to.’”
“Nurses are forced to pick and choose patients to attend to. The ideal World Health Organisation (WHO) standard is five nurses to one patient. In LUTH it’s two nurses to 30 patients. In each ward, there are about 30 patients, and there are only about four nurses for each shift. In the afternoon, there’ll be two nurses, and in the night, there’ll be two nurses.”
“People are dying in service, they are not being replaced; people are resigning, they are not being replaced; people are retiring, they are not being replaced; people are leaving for greener pasture outside Nigeria, they are not being replaced. So, it has cut down the number of professionals that ought to be rendering health care service. And this has also made the management of this hospital (LUTH) to be employing professionals on a casual basis, which is actually against the provisions of the law.”
“Another senior medical officer at LUTH said, ‘LUTH is like a dumping ground for health care in Lagos. It’s usually the extreme cases that are brought to LUTH after treatment elsewhere has failed. Even if you’re rushed in as an emergency case, it’s not guaranteed that you’ll be attended to. Sometimes they’ll tell you there are no available beds unless you can afford the VIP section. LUTH is supposed to be the last hope of the common man in terms of health care. Once you come here, you’re expected to get answers. Sometimes you get answers. But there are a whole lot of challenges. Government is not paying attention to the health sector.’”