DEVELOPING STORY: War in LUTH over avoidable deaths

For three days running, the  nation’s public hospitals were thrown into chaos following the  warning strike called by the National Association of Resident Doctors. NARD, in  state and federal  health institutions.

Pregnant women, children, the aged and patients seeking emergency care at public hospitals were not spared. The strike caught many   unawares.   Some claimed to have waited for

hours before they were told to go home.

Thousands of Nigerians were denied access to medical treatment. The accident and emergency wards remained shut.   New patients were not admitted. While some patients discharged themselves to seek help elsewhere, some that could not be moved or had nowhere to go were left to their fate.
The handful of  consultants attending to patients were overwhelmed.

However, by Thursday, June 5, 2014, when doctors in other institutions called off the strike, their counterparts at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH,  vowed not to return to work unless their local demands are met. They claimed to have learned from past experiences and resolved not to return to work until the issues they raised locally have been addressed.

The  doctors said the system in LUTH was not friendly. They are not asking for better pay but the provision of  basic equipment such as  water supply and good means of communication to make patients more comfortable and  aid  the education of doctors.

“Communication in the hospital is limited, doctors cannot just call the laboratory section and ask for results, we either go down and get the results or use our personal cell phones. This is time consuming and can make a difference between life and death for the patients,” one of the doctors told Sunday Vanguard.

Meanwhile, LUTH management says the hospital is going through a transitory period which requires all staff including the striking doctors to be patient.
The management also picked holes in some of the aggrieved doctors’ demands, saying some of the issues were beyond the hospital.

The place of LUTH in healthcare delivery in the country cannot be over-emphasised.  It is a  teaching hospital that caters not only for Nigerian patients but also neighbouring countries. LUTH is a referral centre.

Health watchers are worried that with the hospital shut, many patients on referral will have nowhere to  go? Sunday Vanguard sought the views of the LUTH doctors and management on the dispute.