chival:


Those are not a lot different. The truth is health care in Nigeria is really poor. My dad went through something similar to the OP's narration, if not worse, and in the same hospital ironically. We eventually lost him due to negligence and wrong diagnosis, so I understand the pain the OP is going through.

Well, like we always say, may God comfort you and all those he left behind. I really wish something more could be done. We are a rather placid and complacent people and therein lies the problem.

oodua1stson:
I would return to that hospital and kill each and every one of them

armadeo:
Dude. Sorry about your loss. I completely understand how You feel.

Medical personnel don't understand that people who come to you comemfoe help and they are lackadaisical when it comes to doing thier JOBS!!

I feel sad whenever I read such, in my experience many are guilty fromnDrs to nurses to every other staff.

Let me say an experience I had that till shocks me till date. ( I am a doctor).

We had a patient who bled a lot following a surgery and was rushed back some days adyer discharge after he collapsed. I was rushing and grabbing everything in reach to resuscitate this man while doing all this the junior Dr attached to me told me it was after 4 that traffic would build up to her house that she wanted to know how long we would stay.

Believe me I was shocked into complete paralysis. I looked at the man I was managing thinking maybe I was hallucinating the entire episode and a gasping man wasn't under my hands. But There he was.

I ensured the severest punishment for her attitude was given to her ( not complete disqualification) but even my HOD who had never heard my voice above a certain pitch heard me scream when I was reporting the case.

I asked for her dismissal but was said to be too angry on that issue. Well the man survived. I know what I went through, how many times I ran from home to the hospital at night because of him, because that is what I am paid to do.

I think it a thing of pride were patients ask to see me personally just because of the attention I give to them. I am not blowing my trumpet. Just today alone I have gotten 3 bottles of wine and a package which contains imported tomatoes and other stuff from walk in patients.

This is what I live for.

We need to know why we are doing what we do. I always assume my patient to be my relative, some can be annoying but nobody goes to a mechanic to check a well functioning car.

DanNafada:


Very insightful comment. You obviously work, or have worked in the system.

Very sorry about the needless loss of life and extend my condolences to the man concerned in this case.

I beg to disagree on your point about the CT scan. It is an absolute shame and arguably criminal that a doctor should have to refer a patient from a TEACHING HOSPITAL to a PRIVATE setup for any scan. In a country like Nigeria I just cannot fathom that it is the tertiary hospitals/institutions that have the best doctors but not the best investigative facilities. You do not have to be a dog to smell the rot inherent in this unfortunate reality. I was completely and totally lost when this happened to a relative who saw a specialist at the National Hospital, Abuja and she was referred to an outside lab for an Echocardiogram - from what is supposed to be the best hospital in our NATIONAL CAPITAL!

There is still a lot of hard work to do before we improve things. The problem is that there are too many people (and counting) who are too uneducated, too religious and too tribalistic. Lagos seems to be forging ahead compared to the rest of the country mostly because your leaders are the most educated and most practically exposed to how other countries, especially Britain, maintain their health sectors.

armadeo:
Dude. Sorry about your loss. I completely understand how You feel.

Medical personnel don't understand that people who come to you comemfoe help and they are lackadaisical when it comes to doing thier JOBS!!

I feel sad whenever I read such, in my experience many are guilty fromnDrs to nurses to every other staff.

Let me say an experience I had that till shocks me till date. ( I am a doctor).

We had a patient who bled a lot following a surgery and was rushed back some days adyer discharge after he collapsed. I was rushing and grabbing everything in reach to resuscitate this man while doing all this the junior Dr attached to me told me it was after 4 that traffic would build up to her house that she wanted to know how long we would stay.

Believe me I was shocked into complete paralysis. I looked at the man I was managing thinking maybe I was hallucinating the entire episode and a gasping man wasn't under my hands. But There he was.

I ensured the severest punishment for her attitude was given to her ( not complete disqualification) but even my HOD who had never heard my voice above a certain pitch heard me scream when I was reporting the case.

I asked for her dismissal but was said to be too angry on that issue. Well the man survived. I know what I went through, how many times I ran from home to the hospital at night because of him, because that is what I am paid to do.

I think it a thing of pride were patients ask to see me personally just because of the attention I give to them. I am not blowing my trumpet. Just today alone I have gotten 3 bottles of wine and a package which contains imported tomatoes and other stuff from walk in patients.

This is what I live for.

We need to know why we are doing what we do. I always assume my patient to be my relative, some can be annoying but nobody goes to a mechanic to check a well functioning car.

Baroba:


Bros, there are good doctors and nurses, like in every profession you will always get bad eggs.. I am a Dr in UK and I work with a lot of amazing Nigerian colleagues, I know there is deep rot in our healthcare system just like in every other institution in Nigeria.. Its totally uncalled for to call Medics and Nurses nonsense human beings, some of these people dedicate their lives working long graveyard shifts just to keep people alive, unfortunately it news like OP's you will always hear ( which he has every right to voice) but not countless lives that have been saved... One thing I strongly advocate is to have a system whereby bad health care staff are weeded out completely..

armadeo:
Dude. Sorry about your loss. I completely understand how You feel.

Medical personnel don't understand that people who come to you comemfoe help and they are lackadaisical when it comes to doing thier JOBS!!

I feel sad whenever I read such, in my experience many are guilty fromnDrs to nurses to every other staff.

Let me say an experience I had that till shocks me till date. ( I am a doctor).

We had a patient who bled a lot following a surgery and was rushed back some days adyer discharge after he collapsed. I was rushing and grabbing everything in reach to resuscitate this man while doing all this the junior Dr attached to me told me it was after 4 that traffic would build up to her house that she wanted to know how long we would stay.

Believe me I was shocked into complete paralysis. I looked at the man I was managing thinking maybe I was hallucinating the entire episode and a gasping man wasn't under my hands. But There he was.

I ensured the severest punishment for her attitude was given to her ( not complete disqualification) but even my HOD who had never heard my voice above a certain pitch heard me scream when I was reporting the case.

I asked for her dismissal but was said to be too angry on that issue. Well the man survived. I know what I went through, how many times I ran from home to the hospital at night because of him, because that is what I am paid to do.

I think it a thing of pride were patients ask to see me personally just because of the attention I give to them. I am not blowing my trumpet. Just today alone I have gotten 3 bottles of wine and a package which contains imported tomatoes and other stuff from walk in patients.

This is what I live for.

We need to know why we are doing what we do. I always assume my patient to be my relative, some can be annoying but nobody goes to a mechanic to check a well functioning car.

cashkid:


Why dont u shut up if u dont have anything reasonable to say rather than exposing ur stupidity here in the public. Is this all about pdp or apc, are u saying this madness in our health sector n even other sector just started? seriously, its hightime you people needed to think deep before u come out here and type nonsense...........no be by force to come post for Nairaland now

armadeo:


I asked for her dismissal but was said to be too angry on that issue. Well the man survived. I know what I went through, how many times I ran from home to the hospital at night because of him, because that is what I am paid to do.

I think it a thing of pride were patients ask to see me personally just because of the attention I give to them. I am not blowing my trumpet. Just today alone I have gotten 3 bottles of wine and a package which contains imported tomatoes and other stuff from walk in patients.

This is what I live for.

We need to know why we are doing what we do. I always assume my patient to be my relative, some can be annoying but nobody goes to a mechanic to check a well functioning car.

twoondei:
sorry about your loss.
A few things I'd like to point out.
LASUTH is probably one of the most efficient government hospitals around if you know your way around. probably the only teaching hospital in Nigeria where power hasn't gone off in about four years.
The very worst cases in Lagos end up in LASUTH, you were referred from ikorodu, there are 25 other general hospitals, with about a thousand private hospitals in Lagos that refer when they can no longer manage these cases.
It is unarguably the busiest too. Check data on Google.
Down to your suggestions
1. The nurses and doctors you see in that compound value lives so much but there's only so much they can do. The medical emergency has three to four nurses on every shift with at least 45 critically ill patients. They MUST write reports on whatever they do and the state of their patients on every shift so when litigation comes, like this one might head, something shows your hard work.

2. There is indeed a quality assurance unit in that hospital, there's even a "complain to me" unit that make sure you get prompt services when due. The ambulance problem should have been relayed to them. That's one of the things they help out with.
LASUTH has more than five functional ambulances and I also know some diagnostic centres bring their vans inside.
The doctor who asked for a CT from a particular place has his reasons; MECURE probably has the best machine and gives the clearest view around LASUTH.

3. on investigation of deaths in the hospital; Lagos government passed a law mandating hospitals to carry out autopsies on "coroner's cases". Simply put, anyone who's cause of death hasn't been medically established before death should be autopsied, this also includes any patient who dies within 24hours of admission in LASUTH. I know this rule is still in place but again,people get waivers from all sorts of places fir religious reasons and this has been a major cog in the wheels of this rule.
Deaths are discussed at departmental levels every week and doctors are scolded when found culpable. You can ask any LASUTH doctor you know.

4. A lot of policies should indeed be reviewed. More professionals need to be employed, a good number of times, doctors and nurses have collapsed on duty. Theres presently a restriction on employment at most levels of government now, so you see a doctor do a 36hr shift twice a week. Meanwhile, he has family members at home.

5. Monitoring has been addressed.

6. Interdepartmental collaboration does exist but the communication channels are not as effective. You have to drop a consult, or call the registrar over the phone who probably is in the theatre or attending to another surgical patient. There's no one assigned to see consults in particular.

7. Oversight functions: I also know that there's a health facility monitoring agency in Lagos and I know the chairman house committee on health, Hon. Olulade visits LASUTH from time to time without prior notification.

Overall, the goal is to make things work in Lagos.
Again, sorry about your loss. May God give you the fortitude to bear the loss.

And yes, I support your cause. #valuenigerians

U sound like a worker in that's hospital. I won't be surprised if u r. The truth is that Nigerians can be wicked. And just as what corruption has made people think of just themselves and their families, it's the same in many other institutions in the country. I'm really sorry for your loss. Man.

twoondei:
sorry about your loss.
A few things I'd like to point out.
LASUTH is probably one of the most efficient government hospitals around if you know your way around. probably the only teaching hospital in Nigeria where power hasn't gone off in about four years.
The very worst cases in Lagos end up in LASUTH, you were referred from ikorodu, there are 25 other general hospitals, with about a thousand private hospitals in Lagos that refer when they can no longer manage these cases.
It is unarguably the busiest too. Check data on Google.
Down to your suggestions
1. The nurses and doctors you see in that compound value lives so much but there's only so much they can do. The medical emergency has three to four nurses on every shift with at least 45 critically ill patients. They MUST write reports on whatever they do and the state of their patients on every shift so when litigation comes, like this one might head, something shows your hard work.

2. There is indeed a quality assurance unit in that hospital, there's even a "complain to me" unit that make sure you get prompt services when due. The ambulance problem should have been relayed to them. That's one of the things they help out with.
LASUTH has more than five functional ambulances and I also know some diagnostic centres bring their vans inside.
The doctor who asked for a CT from a particular place has his reasons; MECURE probably has the best machine and gives the clearest view around LASUTH.

3. on investigation of deaths in the hospital; Lagos government passed a law mandating hospitals to carry out autopsies on "coroner's cases". Simply put, anyone who's cause of death hasn't been medically established before death should be autopsied, this also includes any patient who dies within 24hours of admission in LASUTH. I know this rule is still in place but again,people get waivers from all sorts of places fir religious reasons and this has been a major cog in the wheels of this rule.
Deaths are discussed at departmental levels every week and doctors are scolded when found culpable. You can ask any LASUTH doctor you know.

4. A lot of policies should indeed be reviewed. More professionals need to be employed, a good number of times, doctors and nurses have collapsed on duty. Theres presently a restriction on employment at most levels of government now, so you see a doctor do a 36hr shift twice a week. Meanwhile, he has family members at home.

5. Monitoring has been addressed.

6. Interdepartmental collaboration does exist but the communication channels are not as effective. You have to drop a consult, or call the registrar over the phone who probably is in the theatre or attending to another surgical patient. There's no one assigned to see consults in particular.

7. Oversight functions: I also know that there's a health facility monitoring agency in Lagos and I know the chairman house committee on health, Hon. Olulade visits LASUTH from time to time without prior notification.

Overall, the goal is to make things work in Lagos.
Again, sorry about your loss. May God give you the fortitude to bear the loss.

And yes, I support your cause. #valuenigerians

Drphemmy4u:
@op,sorry about your Dad.May God grant him eternal rest.Amen.Its however unfair to generalize.In every profession,there are those who give their all,and there are those who do the opposite.I am a youth Corper serving in a Comprehensive health center in the north,I work every hour of the day,I am the only doctor ,I have no nurse,just two guys that assist in run arounds.I see as much as 30-50patients per day as its the only government hospital in the town and sometimes I have to do minor procedures,run ultrasound scan for pregnant women,review admitted patients in the evening.I get home earliest 8pm,sometimes 10pm ,1am.sometimes I sleep at the hospital with mosquitoes to monitor *bad* patients.Free on Thursdays? no,I avoid CDS to be at work. Sundays? I still go to work.No closing time for me,its work till every patient is fine.There was a day i bled profusely from the nose (epistaxis)spontaneously, I thought my end was here,I wanted to call home but I hesitated,two hours later,i found myself suturing a patient's wound to arrest bleeding.I heard the nearest general hospital has only one doctor.can u imagine the kind of work he will be doing?The generalization is unfair, it depends on individuals.And really,there is no government in this country.The health sector is messed up but some doctors still do their best as humans under such a challenging condition.Sorry for your loss op.its really sad.take heart.

Realtouchnot:


When was her work hour supposed to end? I assume she was not on call, cos if she were, she wouldn't make that request.
If she was to end her normal work hour by 4pm, then you have no moral high ground to punish her. Working for extra hours should be her choice not by compulsion.

If the traffic closes down on her because she's doing over time, would you cook for her family? If her home scatters because of little issues like this, wouldn't talk about her divorce? Did you bother to ask if any of her children were ill. What if her dad or mom were ill? She probably left home that morning and had made plans of what to do to her other responsibilities when work closes. Who's supposed to take over from her? Where was her equivalence on call?

If her normal work hour was to end by 4pm, she had every right to know how much longer you wanted to keep her as the 'oga'. So if the patient does not considerably pick up by 11pm, wouldn't the hospital still expect her to perform her duties from 8am the next day?

She's a human and a woman, if she falls ill as a result of too much work, who takes responsibility for her bills. What if she dies, would anyone, including you care?

You said she's your younger colleague, so it's possible she had worked the whole day, while the only work you were doing that day was the resuscitation. So you're not just in her shoes.

In as much as I resent negligence, people shouldn't die because they're doctors. In fact, her error margin would be so small after working for long hours, and if she kills any patient as result of mistakes form her fatigue(an exhausted doctor is a dangerous doctor), she would have to face Council on her own. There's a maximum number of hours a doctor must not go beyond. Things should be done the right way. There's no need trying to wipe up sentiments! Have you the told the management to employ more hands if that's what you need.

If indeed you punished her for requesting to go when her work hour ended, you didn't do well. You need to issue her an appology, cos you probably did that in error and she deserves an appology. Except you haven't told us the whole truth. I really hate it when people punish their subordinates just because they feel they have the power. Nonetheless, I appreciate your zeal, but going out your way to help should only be by choice.

Finally, I get mad when people expect to see angels in Nigerian government Hospitals. Is there any government institution where things work? There's a general decay of systems in Nigeria and the hospitals can never be exceptions. In fact, to me the hospitals are even doing very well. The same nurses we term lackadaisical, when they need the services of other government institutions, they see more lackadaisical attitudes in the workers there. How do you expect them to be angels?

twoondei:
sorry about your loss.
A few things I'd like to point out.
LASUTH is probably one of the most efficient government hospitals around if you know your way around. probably the only teaching hospital in Nigeria where power hasn't gone off in about four years.
The very worst cases in Lagos end up in LASUTH, you were referred from ikorodu, there are 25 other general hospitals, with about a thousand private hospitals in Lagos that refer when they can no longer manage these cases.
It is unarguably the busiest too. Check data on Google.
Down to your suggestions
1. The nurses and doctors you see in that compound value lives so much but there's only so much they can do. The medical emergency has three to four nurses on every shift with at least 45 critically ill patients. They MUST write reports on whatever they do and the state of their patients on every shift so when litigation comes, like this one might head, something shows your hard work.

2. There is indeed a quality assurance unit in that hospital, there's even a "complain to me" unit that make sure you get prompt services when due. The ambulance problem should have been relayed to them. That's one of the things they help out with.
LASUTH has more than five functional ambulances and I also know some diagnostic centres bring their vans inside.
The doctor who asked for a CT from a particular place has his reasons; MECURE probably has the best machine and gives the clearest view around LASUTH.

3. on investigation of deaths in the hospital; Lagos government passed a law mandating hospitals to carry out autopsies on "coroner's cases". Simply put, anyone who's cause of death hasn't been medically established before death should be autopsied, this also includes any patient who dies within 24hours of admission in LASUTH. I know this rule is still in place but again,people get waivers from all sorts of places fir religious reasons and this has been a major cog in the wheels of this rule.
Deaths are discussed at departmental levels every week and doctors are scolded when found culpable. You can ask any LASUTH doctor you know.

4. A lot of policies should indeed be reviewed. More professionals need to be employed, a good number of times, doctors and nurses have collapsed on duty. Theres presently a restriction on employment at most levels of government now, so you see a doctor do a 36hr shift twice a week. Meanwhile, he has family members at home.

5. Monitoring has been addressed.

6. Interdepartmental collaboration does exist but the communication channels are not as effective. You have to drop a consult, or call the registrar over the phone who probably is in the theatre or attending to another surgical patient. There's no one assigned to see consults in particular.

7. Oversight functions: I also know that there's a health facility monitoring agency in Lagos and I know the chairman house committee on health, Hon. Olulade visits LASUTH from time to time without prior notification.

Overall, the goal is to make things work in Lagos.
Again, sorry about your loss. May God give you the fortitude to bear the loss.

And yes, I support your cause. #valuenigerians