Many Patients Dying Of Poor Medical Attention – Osagie Ehanire

Federal Government has flayed the poor medical attention given to patients by healthcare workers, saying the development was responsible for the spate of deaths witnessed recently in public hospitals in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Minister for health and commissioner of FCT, Dr. Osagie Ehanire and Muhammad Musa Bello, respectively, in separate remarks at a meeting with medical directors of government-owned hospitals in the FCT, yesterday, said they had received
reports of sick persons being rejected outright or told there were no beds for them in hospitals, saying majority of such patients ended up dying while searching for care.
The ministers also decried situations where patients were left unattended to at hospitals after admission, or abandoned while waiting for results of tests for COVID-19 or other ailments, which often took several days, with some of the patients dying before the results were released.
“This is unacceptable and not good for our image and profession. We cannot afford to continue to lose so many of our people, who have found their way to hospitals, only to lose their lives to health conditions, some of which could have been cured. We know that not all emergencies are COVID-19 and we also know that our professional oaths oblige us to save lives and do something medically possible for those who come to us for help. Our calling as doctors and health workers is simply to save lives. We cannot, at this time, abandon such divine responsibility, especially in case of emergency, when our services are most needed. The situation calls for re-examining our system,” said Ehanire.
The minister said he understood that health workers were rightfully concerned about their safety and that government, in response to their fears, had provided personal protective equipment (PPEs), necessary training and an infection prevention and control protocols for doctors, nurses and other health workers to discharge their duties safely, without risk to themselves
The minister disclosed that, alongside his FCT counterpart, they would monitor and ensure that all steps are taken to minimise the suffering of persons trying to access treatment and to reduce incidents that hurt the reputation of Nigeria’s health system.