Health-Nigeria - Persons seeking comprehensive healthcare in private hospitals in Lagos and environs are now paying higher than usual to obtain such services. A typical scene at an emergency ward of a Lagos State government hospital before protracted doctors/nurses strike. The facilities have been lying dormant since the strike began five weeks ago, forcing patients to seek alternative ervices at cut-throat rates in private clinics and hospitals. The development - a fall-out of the protracted doctors' and nurses' strikes called by the Medical Guild and the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), respectively - has further worsened the plight of tens of thousands of persons in need of medical attention in the State.

Investigations by Good Health Weekly revealed that proprietors of many private clinics and hospitals in the State, may have upwardly reviewed their charges to cash-in on the inability of the State government and the striking unions to come to amicable terms.

At a number of private clinics visited in Ikeja, Ogba, Bariga, Mushin, Isolo and Surulere, investigations revealed that the hike in fees minimally affects normal registration and consultation charges, as well as minor outpatient treatments.

However, charges for medical tests, hospital admissions, antenatal care/delivery, dental care, ENT issues, invasive surgical procedures, and sundry specialist attention such as physiotherapy, chemotherapy/ radiotherapy, etc, have gone up appreciably. By far the most hit by the price hike are patients seeking treatment for heart attacks, strokes and some other types of medical emergencies.

A middle-aged heart attack victim recounted how a private hospital invoked a 25 percent increment in its charges without warning.

"It was a shock because I have been to this same hospital many times before and we had always worked out a payment plan. But this time around they demanded full payment in advance. We pleaded, but they would not budge. I opted to be taken to the Lagos University teaching Hospital (LUTH), but the place was over-booked."

At the end of the day, she recalled how she had to be taken from one private hospital to the other but had to return to the first clinic because the charges at the others were even more exorbitant. "It seems the private hospital owners have met to fix an abitrary increse of hospital fees. So which ever way one looks at the situation, it is the patient who is the loser. It is because doctors and nurses in government hospitals are on strike that people are forced to go elswhere. Those who can afford the cut-throat charges of the private hospitals are just a handful, so heads or tails, the common man is the loser. What doctors and nurses are asking for will ultimately result in higher per-person cost of healthcare."

Findings reveal that what bothers Lagosians most is that the hospital strikes are not about the patient or the interest of the patient. "The issues here are about personal concerns by the doctors' and nurses' unions.They are about the greedy personal interests of a few, in exchange for the detriment of the rest of the community," one commentator submitted.

Meanwhile, concerns over the impact of the ongoing state-wide hospital strike on patient welfare have been a source of worry in the last five weeks. A public health expert who spoke on the issue observed that health sector strikes have propensity to increase in-hospital mortality, and readmission for patients admitted during a strike.

Nurses in the state under the NANNM downed tools Thursday last week at the expiration of a seven-day ultimatum for the State government to implement the Consolidated Health Institutions Salary Scale (CONHESS).

Their action completely grounded services at all State hospitals already struggling under the crushing weight of a five-week old doctors' strike called by the Medical Guild over non-implementation of the Consolidate Medical Institutions Salary Scale (CONMESS) among other demands.

health expert who spoke on the issue observed that health sector strikes have propensity to increase in-hospital mortality, and readmission for patients admitted during a strike.

Nurses in the state under the NANNM downed tools Thursday last week at the expiration of a seven-day ultimatum for the State government to implement the Consolidated Health Institutions Salary Scale (CONHESS).

Their action completely grounded services at all State hospitals already struggling under the crushing weight of a five-week old doctors' strike called by the Medical Guild over non-implementation of the Consolidate Medical Institutions Salary Scale (CONMESS) among other demands.

Solaogundipe

Vanguard/22/03/2011