Despite having an unconscious patient who needed emergency attention, we waited for about 5 hours without medical observation. We had no option but to go to a far-distant health facility—Mrs Ummuhani Abdulrahamn told Daily Episode, crying for her son’s survival.
“Had I known there was no doctor on call or only a single doctor serving every patient at this hospital, I wouldn’t have come here, because the wait seems to be a road to the grave.
“I hope Asibitin Dutse—Yusuf Dantsoho General Hospital will not disappoint me or, rather, experience a reoccurrence of a lack of doctors like the Rigasa General Hospital I am departing.” Ummuhani boarded a tricycle in tears, holding her ill child to another hospital far more than 9 kilometres away.
Like Ummahani, many patients who visited the Rigasa General Hospital left without medical observation or died from negligence, as the hospital lacks health personnel and other basic needs to care for ill citizens in dire need of medical care.
Single Doctor Serving Millions Of Citizens
Despite the health risks and demand for better healthcare, the Kaduna State Government deployed only a single medical doctor at Rigasa General Hospital in the Rigasa community of the Igabi Local Government Area, where approximately 6 million citizens reside.
In an interview with one of the hospital staff, Aminu Zango, not his real name, told Daily Episode that “despite being the only hospital serving the millions of people in Rigasa, Nariya Hayin Danmani, Malamawa, Kabala, and Asikulaye, to mention a few, only a single doctor named Dr Austin Otoghile examines patients who come in hundreds, if not thousands, daily.
“Otoghile is doing more than overworking or calling it multitasking; he conducts at least 10 or more caesarean sections (CS) and other surgical operations daily.
“Beyond surgical operations, he also does a ward round for admitted patients and examines an uncounted number of patients daily. Just imagine: how is this possible in a system that works? angrily, Zango asked.
“We have complained to the ministry several times, but the outcome is regrettable. They have deployed about two doctors, and I think one or two nurses too, but one of them, who is a lady, did not even report, but she seeks to be transferred, and the ministry granted it despite the shortage of doctors and their significance here.
“Same with the other doctor and two nurses; we never heard anything. Neither did they report to the hospital, while the ministry is yet to do what is necessary so patients can receive the better quality healthcare service they deserve. It is so pathetic here, Zango added.
Ministry Response
The Ministry of Health declines to comment on the allegations, especially the lack of medical personnel, while others are allegedly being transferred to other hospitals, leaving a single doctor in a hospital that millions of citizens rely on.
In several phone calls, the ministry’s PRO insists that she’s waiting for her director to respond to our question, but far more time than she demanded has passed, the response remains the same, no return calls as promised, and no follow-up WhatsApp chat.
The ministry’s action further proves the allegation by one of its staff who told Daily Episode that they have submitted several requests for medical doctors and other utilities, but the ministry keeps compromising, which clearly undermines the needs of citizens in the health sector.
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