By Jimoh Taofik Adekunle

8 years after the Offa General Hospital was renovated by the then Governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed, the hospital has turned into a “beautiful place to die.”

The Governor at the time of recommissioning the hospital, was quoted to have said that “Certainly, our determination to provide qualitative healthcare necessitated the renovation and equipping of five general hospitals, including that of Offa.”

But for many citizens that visit the general hospital, this hope for qualitative health care have continued to elude them, often than nought, becoming an outright nightmare.

AN UNENDING TALE OF WOES AND AGONY

Speaking with various patients and families who have used the general hospital, most of whom pleaded anonymity, Biztellers uncovered mostly tales of horrors from patients and their families

According to a mother to a new born baby, the life of her  and her child were saved because she listened to the advice of a friend.

“On Friday, December 9, 2022, I went to the hospital for delivery and, according to the nurse on duty, I was told that it was not yet time for delivery. The nurse said something about my EDD (Expected Date of Delivery) but my friend advised me to seek a second opinion and I went to the health centre behind Olofa palace for assessment. I was told it’s time for delivery. I gave birth before 9pm that night.”

For the family of Mr. Sunday Obinna, a trader in Offa, speaking with our reporter, he said, “Yes, my wife was once a victim at the point of delivery. We were going up and down without anybody to attend to us. Someone would later attend to us when I began to cause a scene and draw people’s attention. She said the doctor wasn’t around, and that we should come back or wait for him. We had to immediately go to a private hospital where my wife delivered within an hour. I regretted allowing her to go to that hospital for antenatal care.”

While the first two stories ended with a seemingly happy ending, Mr Babatunde’s new family of less than a year faced a horrific two days that ended in the loss of their first child.

“December 9, 2022 , my wife was due for delivery and was laying on the bed at the LDR (labour, delivery, and recovery room) of Offa General Hospital. She wouldn’t be attended to for two days (Friday till Sunday). We lost the baby.”

For the family of Mr Yusuf (not real name) as well, there was no happy ending to their horrific medical experience with the general hospital as they also lost their baby.

Speaking with Biztellers, he said, “Hmm… Nov 15, 2021 is an unforgettable day in my life because of the bad experience I had on it.

My wife gave birth on this day and we lost the baby due to incompetence of the doctor. My wife was due for delivery and we rushed her to the hospital.

I discovered that the medical practitioners there didn’t know what to do after listening to them as they aired different opinions as to what to do. I could hear them talking above one another, like chatterboxes.

Some suggested Ceasarean Section delivery and others suggested the use of vacuum. They subsequently agreed to use the vacuum. It was the vacuum they used to injure the baby. How? They used a vacuum for a baby whose head had not come out of the womb.

The doctor on duty that day was called Doctor Umar. I can never forgive that man. He caused us to loose the baby.

That is just their way. They don’t care.”

Balikis Adeola, a mother of four, also narrated to Biztellers how she lost her first born to the negligence of the hospital’s staff in 2013.

“Same thing happened to me in 2013, they made me lose my baby. They abandoned me and went to sleep. I delivered the baby myself and the baby had already inhaled a lot of blood and dirt before coming out. They had to beat him before he cried. I later lost the baby the third day at University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH) in Oke Oyi, Ilorin.”

Another source intimated that, “we had to contribute money for fuel when my wife wanted to give birth. Also, when my sister was in serious conditions, we were the ones that brought the power generator from home. ”

Another person also spoke on how her brother died during the weekend at the hospital due to the “absence of first aid equipment and no fuel in the ambulance that was supposed to convey the victim to Ilorin for proper treatment.”

Yet another account of medical woes stated that “In May 2014, I did a blood transfusion for my mother. I was told to hold a bottle and stretch my hand forward and backward after they passed a string (IV Giving Set) into my veins and the other end into a blood bag.”

One of the most horrifying story was retold to our reporter by Hon Lawal Oluwatosin, who had earlier posted about his sister, Salaudeen Fauzeeyah Onaopemipo, who lost her life in Offa General Hospital on Saturday, December 10, 2022. The deceased came from Okeho, Oyo State.

He said, “we lost a final year student of Kwara State Health Technology, Offa, Public Health Department in the Labour Room on Saturday for not being attended to by the staff of the Offa General Hospital.

A final year student of Kwara State Health Technology Offa, a Muslim sister and blood sister lost her life yesterday when she was in the labor room at General Hospital Offa. She died along with her child. These are unforgettable memories. May Allah Subuhano’huwa ta’Allah grant them jannah fridaus. Ameen.

My blood sister, Fauzeeyah came to Offa to have a better education and bright future at Offa, which we didn’t know that she won’t return back home alive. Allah Subuhano’huwa ta’Allah, you’re unquestionable.”

For Mr Yusuf (not real name), he believes that a major part of the problem at the general hospital is the fact that the doctors all have their own private practices and he believes lack of money is why people become victims of the medical disaster the hospital has become.

“The problem with them is that those doctors have their own private hospitals. They attend to patients there more than the General Hospital. Some do refer patients to their own hospitals.

If I have more money that time I would charge them to court. You won’t believe that they broke one of the baby’s hands. I was crying like a baby.

It was a very bad experience. Bad experience.”

In a lengthy submission on Offa Descendants’ Union (ODU) WhatsApp group, the Commissioner for Water Resources, Femi Agbaje, responded to one such incident posted on the group by another member of the group on Monday.

The commissioner stated that government officials always have to first determine the veracity of claims before responding.

While confirming the incident occurred, Mr Agbaje concluded that death was inevitable for everyone.

“I listened to an audio clip this morning where a lot of allegations were made in respect of this particular incident . I immediately proceeded to the hospital, at least, to do some findings and see where the government could address some of the issues raised.

It is true that a lady was admitted and delivered a stillbirth and the lady eventually died as a result of persistent bleeding.”

He also said he couldn’t confirm yet if her death was as a result of negligence on the part of the attending medical personnels, stating that he can only rely on the medical opinion of the CMD since he himself is not a medical professional.

While admitting that the hospital can be better equipped, he said the government is actively proferring solutions to the problem of infrastructure.

“While it is true that there is erratic power supply in Offa general hospital just like in many other establishments of such nature in our country today, we should not portray our general Hospital as the worst in the state. The Offa general hospital, in order to address this power problem, has an alternative arrangement of inverters which provides light whenever the light is out.

“I was conducted round the facilities at wards, emergency unit and maternity. This debased the lies that patients are being forced to buy fuels to power generators before they can be attended to. Although the hospital is on 11kva which is grossly inadequate, we need to migrate to 33kva. The process which I have started today even though it is not an easy one.”

He also claims that the doctor figure quoted for the hospital is false.

“Also the nos (number) of the doctors we have are not two as being alleged even though the 5-7 that the record shows they have is still not adequate.”

DOCTOR SHORTAGE

Nigeria, according to a foreign publication, Guardian of London, Is one of the top exporters of medical talent to other countries in the world.

In South Africa, it is estimated that there are 5,000 Nigerian doctors; in the UK, that figure is around 7,500, according to figures from the UK General Medical Council.

Currently, Nigeria is the highest country of origin, outside India and Pakistan, for foreign medical doctors working in the United Kingdom.

Nigeria, according to research, lost over 9,000 medical doctors to the UK, Canada and the US between 2016 and 2018.

A total of 727 medical doctors trained in Nigeria relocated to the UK alone in six months, between December 2021 and May 2022.

The data from the Register of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) of the UK also shows that the number of Nigeria-trained nurses in the UK increased by 68.4 percent from 2,790 in March 2017 to 7,256 in March 2022.

The patient ratio in the country is currently estimated at 1 doctor to 10,000 patients as opposed to the WHO recommended ratio of 1 doctor to 1,000 patients.

Dr Chris Ngige, the current minister for Labour and employment have been quoted in the press stating that “Nigeria has more than enough doctors” and that the government is not bothered by the exodus of doctors out of the country stating that Nigeria is proud to be an exporter of medical talent while many hospitals in Nigeria continue to lack the required necessary medical talents to run properly and provide proper medical care to Nigerians.