Few days after Nigeria emerged from a crippling six-week strike of health sector workers, a frustrated mother, Omolade Adebisi Abiara, has taken to the Social Media to lament her experience in the hands of health workers at a university teaching hospital in Lagos.
According to Abiara, who took her sick daughter to see an ENT specialist at the hospital, she was asked to return in six months, if she desires to see a doctor.
Pouring out her frustration on her Instagram page, Abiara said she arrived the hospital, on a reference from another hospital, as early as 6:00 AM, but had to wait until 11:00 A.M before she was eventually attended to. Incidentally, it was neither the specialist nor any other doctor, who attended to her. Rather, it was the administrative staff, who casually informed her that she had been scheduled for an appointment in 6 months. The officer never allowed her to see a doctor, nor have her daughter’s hurting ear examined and evaluated.
All Ms Abiara’s plea fell on deaf ears, as she was told that it was the standard protocol and nothing could be done about it. It did not matter that the daughter she brought to the hospital was in dire need of medical attention.
An officer in the Public Relations Department of the hospital, who preferred to remain anonymous, spoke to a news agency saying the issue would be investigated before further comments are made.
Photo credit: Sundiata Post
