How overcrowding is affecting patients at Wuse District Hospital

It is becoming increasingly difficult for patients to receive  adequate and timely care in many  health centres in the country  because of the huge number of patients  trooping to them. Most times few doctors and nurses have to attend to hundreds of  patients. A health facility that should ordinarily cater for a 100 people per […]

It is becoming increasingly difficult for patients to receive  adequate and timely care in many  health centres in the country  because of the huge number of patients  trooping to them.
Most times few doctors and nurses have to attend to hundreds of  patients. A health facility that should ordinarily cater for a 100 people per day may be faced with a thousand daily.
During this reporter’s visit to the Wuse District Hospital, Abuja, our reporter observed that a large number of patients were waiting to be attended to by the few personnel available.
There were over  a 100 people waiting at the pediatric, ante-natal, and registration unit, of the hospital. The three seater benches with a sitting capacity of 80 persons   on the passage way to these units were occupied while many more who could not get a place to sit were seen standing  and awaiting their turn to see the  physicians.
Some of the patients and their family members were visibly agitated and restless due to long periods of waiting at the hospital.
Mrs. Nike Abiodun who brought her six month old daughter to see a pediatrician said she had been at the hospital for over three hours and was yet to be attended to.
“My baby is running temperature and I need to see the doctor. My card is inside already but it is turn by turn. The problem is that people are too many and there are few people attending to us,” she lamented.
Despite the overwhelming crowd, many were waiting patiently hoping that their turn will come as the nurses come out after a while to call the next person to go in.
Many patients were seen murmuring at the registration unit of the hospital as they stood in a long queue. From time to time there was arguments and struggles as some people try to jump the queue.
One of those on the queue, Mrs. Ikechukwu Ngozi said it is difficult  getting the folder out sometimes , adding that the queue is always long and it usually discourages people coming there for the first time.
She said: “Imagine you are just entering and see a long queue, it will just weaken your spirit. Something urgently needs to be done to address this issue of few hands attending to so many people.  I think this is a problem with all general hospitals and that is why people that can afford it are running to the private ones.”
A staff of the hospital who sought anonymity said while they are trying their best in attending to patients, sometimes they are overwhelmed by the large crowd which turns up.
“No staff comes here to sit down. We are here to attend to the patients but some of them are not patient enough. They want us to rush in attending to them when there are people who arrived before them. Although if extra hands are added,  it will help a lot.”
Asked how the hospital is coping with the large crowd, a staff  at the Public Relations Unit, Aisha Abubakar said  the hospital was adequately catering for the patients and have not had an unmanageable crowd in recent times.
She said no patient has been left unattended to in all the units in the hospital so far as the doctors attend to them with speed.
“The only place we have crowd at times is the registration unit where people have to register, take their card and wait for their folders to be taken to where it is needed,” she explained.
Abubakar   said there are about four staff attending to people and they are very fast when attending to them.
According to her, the accident and emergency unit which is directly opposite the PR unit is a place of prompt action as people are attended to without delay.
“At our accident and emergency unit, there is no delay as victims of accidents are attended to speedily. I have been working in this hospital and can tell you from experience that this place is different, “she said.
It is important for government to speedily make adequate provisions at public health facilities and increase the number of medical personnel.