Abandoned trauma centre overstretches Abaji General Hospital

The Abaji General Hospital, Abaji, in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), is strategically located to cater for victims of road crashes on the ever-busy Abuja-Lokoja highway. Aso Chronicle gathered that it was in cognisance of this fact that the FCTA Human and Health Services Secretariat, some years ago, embarked on the construction of a trauma […]

The Abaji General Hospital, Abaji, in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), is strategically located to cater for victims of road crashes on the ever-busy Abuja-Lokoja highway.
Aso Chronicle gathered that it was in cognisance of this fact that the FCTA Human and Health Services Secretariat, some years ago, embarked on the construction of a trauma centre in the hospital. Unfortunately, the project has never seen the light of the day, mainly because, as discovered by our reporter, facilities at the general hospital get overstretched, with patients from neighbouring communities in Niger, Kogi and Nasarawa states also depending on the hospital for their medical needs.
A staff nurse at the hospital, who preferred anonymity, told our reporter that contract for the trauma centre project was awarded three times only to be abandoned by the contractors, after engineers inspected the project and discovered some errors.
The nurse said: “Actually, the trauma centre project started over five years ago, while three contractors were awarded the project on different occasions.
He said that due to the non-completion of the trauma centre, existing facilities at the main hospital, especially at the pediatric ward, became overstretched, adding that patients are sometimes referred  to other hospitals due to lack of space.
 He disclosed that some accident victims brought by the rescue team of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) are sometimes referred to St. Peters Catholic Hospital in the area.
“In fact, sometimes there are reported cases of accident victims kept on the bare floor due to lack of space, while others are taken to St. Peters Catholic Hospital for attention,” he said.
Aso Chronicle gathered that the construction of the trauma centre at the hospital, MDGs sponsored project, commenced since 2008 and was given to an indigenous construction company to handle.
Another staff of the hospital, preferring to remain anonymous, also complained about the shortage  of medical staff there, especially medical doctors, saying that some doctors posted to the area rejected the posting, complaining about the distance between Abaji and the city centre.
He said: “For now, we have five medical doctors who are currently on call duty and are always on the ground, 24 hours, to attend to emergency cases and other patients that come to the hospital.”
He said that lack of trained personnel to operate the laundry machine to wash the hospital’s bed sheets and clothes of patients is another challenge facing the hospital, adding that the hospital cleaners use their hands for washing.
 He also complained that there is no X-ray machine at the hospital.
However, findings by Aso Chronicle further revealed that the hospital charges N500 for what the hospital’s management call ‘emergency fee’ from patients that come with emergency cases.
The emergency fee, introduced by the FCTA Health and Human Service Secretariat, via a circular it issued to all general hospitals in the FCT, however, it was learnt, has elicited series of complaints from patients.
Our reporter also found out that drugs are expensive in the hospital, making patients to prefer going outside to buy at drugs shops, where they say it is cheaper.
However, the staff said: “You see, what some patients don’t understand is that, the drugs they buy are quality ones which is approved from a particular company by the Health and Human Service Secretariat. And that is why sometimes, when drugs are prescribed to patients, if we don’t have in stock, we do advice such patient to go to a particular chemist to get it, because of the company that produces them.”  
Some patients, who spoke to Aso Chronicle, lamented the inadequacy of drugs at the hospital, despite the exorbitant prices of the drugs.
They say that the non-availability of some drugs at the hospital has created a money-making opportunity for private drug sellers outside the hospital to milk the patients dry.
A patient in Abaji, Ismaila Adamu, told our reporter that he once had an unpalatable experience at the Abaji General Hospital.
He said he was having a severe headache and insomnia and decided to go to the hospital in the night. On getting to the hospital on a motorbike, he said that he saw a doctor and drugs were prescribed for him, but he couldn’t get most of them at the hospital’s pharmacy.
“It was just two weeks ago, I was prescribed three drugs but when I got to the pharmacy, I only got one, and was asked to go out to buy the remaining ones.
“I was surprised I couldn’t get the drugs even at the Specialist Hospital, in Gwagwalada. It was at a private pharmacy that I got the remaining two drugs,”  he said.
He said he was treating hypertension and it took the grace of God for him to survive that night.
“I thought I was going to die that night but thank God I pulled through. When I got to the hospital’s pharmacy and I could not get three of the drugs, I almost collapsed.”
When one of our reporters contacted a pharmacist at the hospital, he declined to give his name because he was not authorised to talk to the press. However, the pharmacist said prescribed drugs are always available at the pharmacy.
He acknowledged, though, that “the central store sometimes runs short of some drugs,” adding that patients are sometimes referred to outside registered pharmacies to get drugs.
“It is very difficult for patients to come here without getting the prescribed drugs, and if we don’t have them, it means we  ran out of stock,” he said, adding that the solar fridge where drugs are stored could hardly prevent drugs from getting expired, if not sold on time.
He said that about 75 percent of prescribed drugs are available and that the pharmacy only runs out of stock due to high demands for some drugs.
“There are some drugs that doctors prescribe to patients that cannot be in stock, as they may get expired due to irregular demand from the patients,” he added.
When contacted, the Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the hospital, Dr. K.I Jizaya, said he resumed headship of the hospital not long ago, adding that he has written to the FCT Health and Human Services Secretariat about some of the challenges facing the hospital.
He said that he revamped the abandoned hospital’s morgue and addressed some few other challenges facing the hospital.