Healthcare in the trenches

Let us tell ourselves the truth today, the Nigerian healthcare system is bad and it is all our fault.

Today, in clinic a young woman came into the consulting room where I was with my consultant, crying. She had come to the hospital about four times for a thyroidectomy and has not had any luck with it. The first time she came for the surgery, there was no power to run the theatre. The second time, there was no bed space for admission. The third time, there was no oxygen. Today, there was no bed space. She has paid for and done the necessary investigations, some of which might have to be repeated. She pays for the bed space every time she stays on the ward, even without receiving treatment. She has had to move her schedule and disrupt her personal activities every time we have sent her away and that is very sad.

Years ago, just before I started medical school, I lost an uncle at a teaching hospital in Lagos. I remember it was at the time the resident doctors had gone on strike. I was told that he wasn’t been attended to and was taken off his artificial ventilator causing his condition to deteriorate which led to his death. I remember how devastated my mother was. A lot of money had been spent on his healthcare prior. I remember how everyone blamed the doctors and said they didn’t have an ounce of conscience by deciding not to treat him even in his critical condition.

Now, I am a doctor working at a federal hospital and I know better. The return of investment on my medical education cannot be gotten from this job, neither can the joy of a good night’s sleep.

I know doctors who are struggling financially. The cost of living keeps going up, but the salary does not and that is if they get paid. Everyone says doctors are rich. The average market woman would double the price of goods for the poor doctor. Money is also needed for the family upkeep. The children’s fees need to be paid. The car is faulty and needs to be repaired. Family and friends would expect a little something every now and then. They would also need free healthcare sometimes. The question is “doctor no go chop?” or is the oat we took during our induction supposed to be what we feed on?

When the teaching hospital does not have light or is out of bed space, it is the doctors in the teaching hospital that are wicked and don’t have mercy, but the truth is it is beyond us. We are overwhelmed and tired. The work of a doctor in an average federal hospital is more than clinical practice. We also add things like running around looking for blood lai se vampire, contributing money for patients’ investigations and materials as well as donating blood and food materials. Sometimes, it is hard to separate work from personal affairs as we sometimes become so attached to our patients and their condition than is normal.

Is this sustainable?

Little wonder why many are leaving the country for a better working environment.

Let us tell ourselves the truth. We cannot continue to hold healthcare workers for things that we ourselves can change. It is election time and some of us will vote for the next local government chairman or governor based on the measly five thousand naira that will be given as incentive, but when there is no water at the theatre for the surgery, it is the doctor’s fault. Some of us will not vote in the coming election, while some will vote out of blind loyalty even though they are aware that the reason their child cannot afford the best schools is because they are not paid their worth. Well… las las we still japa right?

It is sad. A lot of us, doctors included are one major illness away from poverty.

We need to fix up, because the mental conditions a lot of doctors are working under is not ideal for patient care, but we care all the same.

If you have not felt it in the tone of my writing, I would like to point it out that I am very angry writing this article. I feel all shades of emotion everyday at work from struggling to figure out the diagnosis to the right treatment plan, to figuring out how to manage a patient using crude materials as makeshift for what is unavailable or is too expensive to purchase. I am tired of seeing patients die from problems like lack of oxygen, power, medications or money for investigations.

We can do better in the coming years and I hope we make the right decisions.

I would like to hear back from you. What are your experiences of healthcare in Nigeria, patient or doctor?

Share this article so that more people can be angry.

P.S: You might think it is not your bread and tea, but God forbid and it is not my portion are not sustainable healthcare plans in this country. May Nigeria not happen to you.