National Issues
AKTH; A Teaching Hospital Or A Cheating Hospital -By Engr Abdullahi Garba Ramat
When a guide takes a wrong turn, the feedback would definitely be contrary to the aimed Gold! Menace in disguise is the most devastating evil and the only thing necessary for such evil to triumph in any society is for it to be neglected, unchecked or unattended. ( Engr Ramat)
History tells us, Since its inception during the military administration of General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital had established a solid foundation with track records of medical professionalism. It has recorded giant strides in many areas of medical practices. Some of these achievements includes but by no means exhaustive, the recent successful separation of siemens twins, the dialysis and kidney transplant, the opening of dental and maxillofacial department, all of which are hitherto the exclusive reserved of hospitals located south of the river Niger.
It was during the administration of General Muhammad Sani Abacha of blessed memory under the able pioneering efforts of the former Chief Medical Director, professor Sadiq Wali, that the hospital became prominent when virtually state of the arts medical equipment was provided to the hospital. It not only catered for numerous patients from Kano/Jigawa its primary catchments, but all the Nineteen Northern states plus the Federal capital territory. The dedication of the medical and auxiliary staffs coupled with the availability of sophisticated medical facilities had transformed the hospital into a center of excellence, thus greatly enabling it to rub shoulders and in some case surpassed the so-called first generation teaching hospitals. A case of medical referral from other hospitals including the much-publicized national hospital Abuja, to AKTH occurred on a daily basis.
History also tells us that; between 1990 to 1999 AKTH competed at every level to be the best regionally, nationally, and internationally, Doctors both in the Hospitals and educational bureaucracies, were highly motivated and committed to their duties
But, ours is in contrast to the aforementioned, it’s characterised by poor standards, unorganised extra-curricular activities and wretched infrastructure and laboratory facilities. In short, AKTH compounds and campuses today are like facilities located in war zones. Some labour Rooms are comparable to makeshift refugee camps in a war zone with broken windows, dirty and smelly floor. Some Department in AKTH today are like archaeological artefacts due to lack of maintenance. It appears that many Doctors and Health administrators today are not as motivated and committed as their counterparts three decades ago. This means that our Doctors really do not care about what happens to partients in the Hospital and even if they do, they did not and are not trying to avert the situation apart from maintaining their jobs and enhancing their financial wherewithal through embezzlement of allocated funds, threats and unexplainable indirect charges imposed on patients
Today, AKTH is a mere shadows of its past, in terms of mentaining standards. Quality has been sacrificed due to the insatiable desire by some egoistic Doctors, some Doctors, Nurses and Hospital administrators to find the easiest means to accumulate wealth. Thus, performance is not taken seriously anymore .
It is however sad, that While the Hospital’s good reputation attaches holiness and decency to it, some thieving elites and megalomaniacs are busy taking it as an advantage to egoistically unleash their avariciousness on along the line while carelessly driving it out of its defined border, the result of which making it as corrupt as political sectors, this is prevalence not only among Card insuring Department but also the Doctors and Nurses as well,
It is an open secret that patient are occasionally compelled to pay for special services ( treatment) in many cases by some Doctors. Patient who have money do not have to even follow Queue to get treated. They pay incentives to those at card Rooms, Nurses and sometime directly to the Doctors, On the other hand, patient who cannot afford to pay are sometimes penalised by neglecting them in the Queue, under the sun after which they may be ask to come back next day.
It’s also an open sectret that in a case
where the patient require scarning or an xray ( an exercise which suppose to be done within the Hospital laboratory at negligible price) ), some Doctors do ask them to get it done from the outside laboratory at very highly exorbitant rate, the laboratory which are either directly own by the Doctor or are directly or indirectly connected to him through which percentage is coming to his table for sending a customer (patient), for that Some Doctors do insist that the scarn most come from a particular laboratory otherwise the wont have even peep at it lot alone the diagnosis. They always claim that Ultrasound machines in the hospital cannot cater for the demands hence is the reason for referring some to outside and private centers. Must of the private center that offering this services are quacks and unqualified in the system which are also partly owned by the Doctors.
No matter how urgenly devestating one’s sickness is, He/She must pay N300 to get registered before being able to secure an atom of attention from any Doctor, that N300 is only valid for a single consultation, if in any case the patient leave the Doctor’s room for laboratory, to see him again another N300 must be vomited again.
Nevertheless, pregnant woman must make N10,000 cash deposit before starting her maternity consultancy routine (prenatal care ) and that exclude Doctor’s consultation’s fee ( in case she need to), scarning ( when required ) and any transient sickness which may araise along the line, at this point one may wonder if AKTH is really Goverment Hospital,
Some Doctors so take advantages of female patient to serve amoral desires and go scot-free for want of hard evidence. Some Doctors deliberately stay away from offices and travel to attend part time work from private Hospital, or , abdicate their responsibilities to go for sabbaticals at short notices thereby depriving the poor people of the aggregate number of hours per day etc. It goes on and on, All the incessant strikes of the past were also nothing but means to accentuate and perpetuate selfish agenda of autonomy which, however only exist in the imaginations of their union.
While Japanese, Chinese, Indian, Brazilian etc. educational systems are cellebrating years without decrease in motality rate, discovering new technics and interfacing medical with Technological line etc. Nigerian Doctors are becoming individuals who are perpetually preoccupied with looking for ways to exploit the society for their personal advantage, instead of contributing positively to the advancement of the society at large. Indeed, an medical system that extols financial quick fixes is not a beneficial at all.
But, like I always said, it’s not exhaustive die to space constraint, It is therefore a time, the time for the anti-corruption war to be extended to the medical sector ( Hospital ) The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), ICPC and other corruption fighting agencies should focus their investigative tentacles on the institutions and compel those who have questions to answer to explain what happened under their administrative supervision . It is not possible to wipe out corruption while one of the most decent institution ( Health sector) are allowed to cultivate corruption and amoral behaviors. If the medical sector fails to be corruption free, then the country is doomed….
God save Nigeria.
Engr Abdullahi Garba Ramat