The Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Abuja said on Monday that it has commenced an investigation against eight of its staff for alleged professional misconduct.
The staff were reported to have unprofessionally handled a case of health emergency involving some motor accident victims, as contained in a video that circulated on social media a few days ago.
In the viral video shared on social media, the health workers were reluctant to attend to the accident victims brought to the Accident and Emergency Service Unit of the hospital by a passerby, because of some challenges they (health workers) highlighted, which included insufficient manpower, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), and other challenges.
Head of Clinical Services, Dr. Bioku Muftau, told journalists in Abuja that the hospital regrets the unprofessional conduct of the staff in the video and confirmed that action is being taken to ascertain what truly transpired.
He said: “In fact, the Minister of State for Health, Dr. Iziaq Salako, has directed that a thorough investigation be conducted on the matter and that necessary punishment be assigned to the people involved.
“Eight staff, which include four doctors, two nurses, and two health assistants, were involved in the incident. But we envisage the number might be more as the investigation widens.”
He insisted that the unprofessional actions of the health workers do not reflect the true status of the hospital when it comes to quality service delivery nor indicate that “unknown” persons don’t get quality healthcare services in the facility.
“FMC Abuja has been adequately financed and equipped by the federal government over the years to render services, and we have been doing that diligently, and the patients are attesting to that. We record more than 30,000 visits monthly. You can’t compare that with what we had in past years when we only saw about 5,000 patients.
“In addition to that, we also have adequate manpower in the hospital to attend to the healthcare needs of the people. FMC Abuja is blessed with a lot of staff. As I speak, we have over 100 consultants in various specialities. In Neurosurgery alone, the sole speciality of surgery, we have three. So, even in the other teaching hospitals in Nigeria, there are very few teaching hospitals that can boast of three neurosurgeons.
“We have five urologists in this hospital. There are very few of them elsewhere. You can check and cross-check this fact. There are very few teaching hospitals, including UCH, LUTH, that can boast of five consultant urologists. So, the issue is that as our patients come, we are treating them, and we would continue to offer service.”
He assured Nigerians that the hospital management is working hard to ensure more timely, professional, and quality healthcare services to health-seeking Nigerians. “Imagine a hospital with over 100 beds that is usually filled to capacity most of the time. There’s no way one or two patients will not have one complaint, but we often resolve complaints in real time.
“In addition to that, we will have multiple channels to receive and attend to a complaint from each ward and also the entire hospital. If there’s any complaint anywhere, it will be communicated to the platform, and the problem will be resolved. So, let me tell you that the hospital has a very strong and high dream or mission.
“A hospital that wants to become a world-class hospital doesn’t take patient satisfaction with levity. It is at the centre or core of our mission and vision in this Federal Medical Centre. The hospital has done a lot in the last four or five years, all in an attempt to reverse medical tourism in Nigeria.”
