Patients Decry Orthopaedic Hospital Doctors’ Attitude

Patients at the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, Lagos, on Wednesday decried the doctors’ failure to give them prompt attention.

They told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in separate interviews in Lagos that most times, the doctors abandoned them in pains and agony while waiting endlessly for consultation and treatment.

Mr Dakaori Godwin, a 72- year old man told NAN: “I am not happy with the way this hospital handles the patients.

“They will ask us to come very early, but we end up waiting for hours in pains before being attended to.”

Another patient, Mr Peter Mmadubuko, said: “It is very unfortunate that some doctors arrive late at their duty posts, because of their thinking that it is a government job.’’

“Some of them first go to their private hospitals before coming to attend to the large numbers of patients who had been writhing in pains,” he said.

Mmadubuko said the attitude was common in most government hospitals.

He said they were supposed to be savers of lives, but “they are not readily available to perform this duty”.

Also, another female patient, who pleaded anonymity, said she suffered the same experience when she had  a motorcycle accident.

“On my appointment day, I got to the hospital at about 6.30 a.m but I did not see any doctor until noon.

“I must confess that the nurses are doing their best. They are always on ground to render their services to the patients,” the patient said.

The Chief Executive Officer, Public Relations, of the hospital, Mr Olufunso Ige, denied the allegations and explained that the patients, “are just expressing their mindset that doctors in government hospitals don’t attend to patients promptly because they believe doctors always arrive late”.

“There are two categories of patients in the hospital, the cold and emergency.

The emergency patients are always given priority, while the cold patients have to follow the due process.

“Some people always want to jump the queue which in turn creates more delay,” he said.

He urged the patients to arrive early for their appointments to avoid delay.