Nigerians are going through challenging times as medical care is gradually becoming out of reach to patients attending public healthcare institutions.
The strike, which began on Thursday, last week has resulted to a reduction in the number of doctors administering services to those with ailing health, thereby crippling healthcare services offered by tertiary hospitals and endangering the lives of many Nigerians.
As a result of the 5-day old industrial action by the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), patients in dire need of healthcare have been compelled to opt for treatments in private owned hospitals which are at high cost.
It was learnt that due to the strike privately-owned clinics have been inundated with patients, thus creating opportunities to reap off to visiting patients.
“Of course, when one road closes, another one opens. The manpower in federal hospitals has dropped because of the strike, and there is a tendency for guardians to bring their loved ones to hospitals they can afford to pay,” says Bright Oniovokukor, a medical practitioner.
Oniovokukor, a regional representative of Clearline Health Management Organisations, Benin Region, said that the strike has placed patients in a difficult situation who are now forced to seek healthcare in private hospitals.
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He opined that the private sector would see it as an opportunity to get more profits “because client’s bills will now be more than what they normally pay when the tertiary hospitals were operating fully”.
Paul Iyamu, a Benin-based resident who was hitherto a patient at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) told Businessday on Monday that he had no choice but to seek medical care elsewhere.
“I was forced to go home because of the ongoing strike. I decided to go to a private hospital so that I can continue my treatment. As we speak, I paid another huge sum of money.
“We can’t continue like this as a nation. There are several patients seeking for urgent medical care whose treatments were abruptly stopped because of the strike,” he said.
Reassuring visiting patients in Benin, Joshua Uwaila, image-maker of UBTH in a statement, expressed hope that the ongoing dialogue between the resident doctors and the Federal Government would be fruitful.
Uwaila said the hospital had endeavoured to maintain skeletal services amid depleted human resources at their disposal so as to mitigate the impact of the strike.
Speaking further, he said “in the meantime, several patients have had to seek medical care in other hospitals which are not affected by the strike”.
The striking doctors, which make up the bulk of medical practitioners in tertiary hospitals, are demanding the settlement of unpaid wages, improved welfare packages, among other requests.
