As a secondary school student in the nineties, a visit to UITH in their temporary site was always a delight. The shining wardcoats, the smiles on the faces of doctors and a serene and calm environment endeared a young man to the noble profession of medicine. It was a dream come true when finally admission came through and one had to join the passion once craved. The journeys through medical school won't justify the yearnings longed for but that is a discourse of another day.

Generations of doctors have passed through this hospital and millions of patients have been attended to at this hopsital. I wonder what story each of them can say of this institution. Each person contributing his/her quota to the development of the institution.

As an alumnus of this hospital (at least I received clinical training and teaching for 3 solid years), it breaks my heart to see the deterioration and decay the hospital experiences any time i visit. One would have thought that by now considering the array of human resources the institution is blessed with, the hospital would boast of feats many West Afircan countries would be envious of and willing to surpass but stories that one hears from the hospital daily is saddening.

For a hospital in the 21st century to be using an analogue X-ray machine captures it all. As a physician, I hardly appreciate the features on an analogue X-ray. It's appaling that private hospitals in the Kwara state capital can boast of digital X-ray machines but the centre of excellence grapples with an outdated machine which hardly functions for 3 months in a year. Come to think of it, how many radiological machines work in that hospital? What happened to the MRI and CTScan machines? Do they have facilities for Doppler imaging? That's an answer you may want to find out.

The Accident and emergency usually represents the gateway to life and death for most patients. Care in the first few hours of presentation matter a lot. However there's nothing emergency about the hospital's emergency section. The UITH A and E is riddled with problems such as absence of regular consumables as basic as gloves, hot and uncomfortable atmosphere, dilapidated rooms and toilets, lack of a ECG (how do they help patients with cardiac emergencies), and many other basic necessities required for an emergency unit in a 20th century hospital (not even 21st). The mere fact of seeing a casualty officer or nurse use lamps, torchlight phones and other improvised lighting techniques to carry out their routine work sometimes summarizes the enormity of the problems in the hospital.

The clinics are fantastic places to say the least. Unconducive, smelly, unkempt, terrible furniture and regularly poorly illuminated due to irregular power supply. The renal unit am told has maybe one or two functional dialysis machines. The ICU has just 3 beds with probably one or two working full complement machines. Lack of oxygen at some critical times also suggests the myriad of challenges in this hospital. The operating theatres are supposed to have air conditioning systems to protect the sweat from the operating team from contaminating the surgery site. Irregular power supply for a hospital who went to print media to claim a whooping 16million is spent to purchase diesel monthly and another 3million for PHCN has led to cancelling many surgical cases and them being referred to private hospitals.

Welfare of workers is something I wouldn't like to dwell on. You can conduct an independent assessment on all cadres of workers in the hospital ranging from the cleaners, interns, nurses, admin staff, radiographers, doctors , nurses, etc. Their answers will tell the whole story. One thing is clear if staff welfare suffers, service delivery bears the brunt.

THE hospital however boasts of feats such as Open heart surgeries,the IVF centre and ONE renal transplant till date. However if an hospital cannot treat basic cases successfully one wonders at the joy that comes from celebrating other semi-complex and unnecessary feats. Other hospitals created at the same time as the UITH have gone on to have Stem cell transplant centres, laser therapy surgeries and interventional cardiology procedures among many others.

The VIP ward has at best a 0.2 star hotel facilities even when occupants pay so much for a comfort that never exists. The caving buildings, absence of running water and consistent power outages are characteristics of the VIP ward.

I hope the people in charge of that place understand that inasmuch as they are placed in charge today, they may be patients tomorrow. The question the staff and management of the hospital should note is that if sickness calls, would they be proud to be admitted and receive services there in its present state? A prick on the conscience would probably answer the question.



From a concerned citizen who happens to be a physician.

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This is so sad. You begin to wonder is it reduced funding or just pure mismanagement and embezzlement of funds meant for managing the hospital.
Unfortunately this situation is mirrored in most federal teaching hospitals in Nigeria. We need a revolution in the health care system in Nigeria.