When one walks through the gates of the National Hospital, there is always this awareness of death lurking somewhere in the neighbourhood. Although the authorities of the hospital have done a great job, keeping the environment very clean and the flowers blossoming with life, the somber aura still envelops the premises.? From the security post, where smart private guards politely check visitors and issue tallies, an unusual feeling eclipses you as you drive down the well-paved road into the belly of the hospital.
As you walk beyond the administrative block into the wards, you hear hushed voices of people lamenting the woes of their loved ones just as a doctor opens a door, steps out, closes it and walks briskly down the hallway and disappears into a corner.? You are left to grapple with the reality of life and death as you see hundreds of the sick, the broken and the bruised milling from the wards and cubicles scattered all over the premises.
The National Hospital was established under Decree 36 of 1999 (now, Act 36 of 1999). But former Head of State, Gen. Abdusalami Abubakar performed the inauguration on May, 1999. It was originally designed to care for the needs of women and children in Nigeria and the West African sub-region with a view to reducing morbidity and mortality rates. It was also mandated to carry out extensive research into the peculiar causes of women and children-related diseases in Africa. The hospital opened its doors to its first patients September 1, 1999.
On its inauguration, the hospital was named, National Hospital for Women and Children but the scope of its operations was later expanded to accommodate male patients. Precisely on May 10, 2000 the Federal Government re-christened it, National Hospital, Abuja.?
Today, the hospital has over 1,600 staff and operates a 24-hour services. But this has failed to address the needs of thousands who go there for treatment. The number of cars and pedestrian that daily pass through the gates of the hospital speaks volume about the burden borne by management and staff of the facility.
Tayo Haastrup, Head of Management Information Services, said: “I can tell you that we have over a 1,600 staff here and they are performing well; rendering a 24-hour service.”
While Haastrup insists that the 1000 staff on the payroll of the hospital are doing well in a 24-hour operation, many of those who spoke to our correspondents complained that the doctor/patient ratio was nothing to reckon with.
For instance, a walk to the Radiodiagnostic Unit of the hospital was revealing.? At the reception, Leadership spotted 30 persons waiting to get an appointment. The scenario was the same everywhere you turn. Patients are seen hanging outside reception halls due to congestion. They look helpless and hopeless.
As it is in most public institutions in the country, Leadership found that favouritism also reigns supreme at the hospital. Patients who have friends or relatives are being attended to promptly while others are kept waiting endlessly.
Omenka Emmanuel was in the hospital to see a patient and he shared his experience with us: “My father was sick and we took him to the Federal Medical Centre, Keffi. When his condition got worse, the hospital referred him to the National Hospital where we were led to the emergency unit. After waiting for hours without anybody attending to him, I went to the desk and made some payments with the hope that my father would be given attention. I later took the receipt to the appropriate desk but the staff shocked me. She sought to know which doctor gave me the permission to make payments, saying that I should have secured a doctor to attend to my father before making payment.” As he said these, glassy balls of tears rolled down his cheeks.
Swallowing hard, he continued, “I was asked to withdraw the receipt and get my money back. After that, I was told that they cannot attend to my father because there was no room and bed to assign to him. I pleaded that I wouldn’t mind laying my father on the bare floor for them to attend to him. My pleas fell on deaf ears and so I had no option but to hurriedly take my father to Gwagwalada Teaching Hospital, where he eventually died.”
Omenka said many staff of the hospital are insensitive but attributed the attitude to the fact that having seen a lot of cases and even deaths, they’re no longer moved by pain or pleas. “A friend almost died here when he donated blood to his daughter because he was asked to run round to get things that the nurses were supposed to get and he collapsed in the process. It helps a lot when you have people working here, because they will help in getting you attended to,” he said.
A patient is supposed to be treated with love and care but some staff of the hospital are accused of aggression against the sick and the dying. Idris Abiodun, whose wife was delivered of a baby, is one of those who has experienced the other side of service delivery at the facility. Abiodun has vowed never to patronise the hospital in the future. He insisted that it was God’s intervention that saved his wife and child. He said:
“Here, pregnant women are kept for hours without being attended to. You dare not complain as they are always ready to give it back to you. It is rare to find a nurse talking politely to a patient; they are either ignoring you completely or giving you a lecture that will make you regret ever visiting the hospital. They need to improve on their attitude,” he concluded.
A man who simply gave his name as Emeka also lamented the attitude of the nurses and vowed never to visit the hospital again. He said: “My kid was ill and we were kept for hours without getting an appointment. When I went to the desk to complain, my words were thrown back at me.
I was told that they’ve seen worst cases and so would not be moved by my pleas. I left and I will never go back to that hospital, although am not praying for ill health,” he said.