IT was a fact finding mission with the expectations to put to rest the fears of Nigerians that health services at the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals (OAUTH), Hospitals complex, Ile-Ife was not being compromised as speculated in a letter asking for a closer look at
patient’s care in the hospital.
At about 10am at the hospital’s Outpatient Department, a rowdy session probably would have been expected. Indeed “I have been coming to the outpatient clinic for the last one week, we are treated well and we have had no reason to wait endlessly to be seen by a doctor, said Mr John Ogidi, a 50-year-old man.
Mrs Helen Adenuga, in her Ghanaian accent, had a surgery done and comes in daily for dressing of a surgical wound. Seating on the aluminium seat at the waiting area of the outpatient clinic, she said, getting attention at the hospital was never a challenge.
“I come for daily dressing after a surgery done some time back and even on Sunday, getting attended to was not a problem. Today, I came in about 9am and I had finished what I wanted to do about 10am. They behave in a humane way; of course the crowd will determine the time to leave the clinic.”
Mrs D.F Ofum, in her 60’s, assessing care at the clinic, said “the doctor-in-charge treats me with care, like a baby. The nurses are also up and doing.”
However, she added that more hands need to be employed to work in the outpatient ward, declaring, “there seems to be too many people for the staff.”
A patient, who spoke on anonymity on patient care at the hospital, declared “this is my third day here at the hospital. Every time, I come, they attend well to me and they are doing their best.” He, however added that with more hands, services at the outpatient clinic would further improve.
Mrs Janet Alo, a 59-year-old, waiting to have an ultrasound scan done at the radio diagnosis department of the hospital, pointed out that though industrial strike had started, the staff were still courteous in the way she was attended to at the unit.
“They came to explain to us that those booked for today will be attended to. They apologised for the delay almost five times, asking that we be patient.”
Despite the strike, services such as collection of X-ray reports and ultrasound reports were ongoing at the counter manned by five young individuals wearing sparkling clean ward coats.
Moving around the hospital was an eye opener for a hospital that is gradually been turned around to expand its facilities to meet the changing health needs of the communities in its catchment area, including on the future.
Having worked at the 12-bedded female medical ward in the past two years, the matron in charge of this ward which accommodates 12 patients, said on the average between seven and eight patients are admitted into the ward every week.
Regular supply of clean bed linens from the hospital’s laundry department thrice in a week makes patients’ bed spreads easily replaced, she maintained, adding that a clean ward was not difficult since the ward cleaners do their jobs. This had contributed greatly to infection control at the hospital, she declared.
Although the hospital’s central pharmacy was still under construction and as such still not in use, activities was in full swing at the age old central pharmacy which was also serving as a hub for other four satellite pharmacies in other parts of the hospital such as the theatre and accident and emergency departments.
In full optimism, “there is a pharmacy house that is being built and because of its largeness, when we become operational at the new building, we will not be doing window dispensing again. It will be one on one basis with the pharmacist. Of course, more pharmacists will be needed to beef up manpower capacity,” said Mrs Patricia Moody, a pharmacist at the hospital.
Although the hospital’s central pharmacy was still under construction, she said the decentralisation of the pharmacy unit was to ensure that “patients do not have to run around for long before they get their drugs.”
Even though the hospital dispenses both branded and generic drugs, Mrs Moody added that out-of-stock drug syndrome was not an issue to be worried about at the hospital.
“The out-of-stock of drug depends on the usage of that particular drug in the hospital. But in some instances, some drugs may not be sold to patients that request them even when they are available, until the stock is audited.”
No doubt, the crowded nature of the hospital’s neonatal ward, and in the spirit of ensuring babies are kept alive had engendered the construction of a neonatal ward. This forms part of the 2014 budget of the hospital. The old neonatal ward, with its 21 baby inmates, Mrs Caroline Adejide, a nurse at the unit, said the main challenge had been inability of some parents’ to pay for their newborn care.
“The only time we have complaints is when we ask parents to pay for things required for the care of their babies,” she said.
Examinations, including radiological diagnosis such as X-ray and ultrasound tests, are key to effective medical treatment. “The thinking that patients are not attended to promptly and courteously is not correct,” Dr Sola Famurewa, head, Department of Radio diagnosis, OAUTH, Ile-Ife, said.
Patients are booked based on when the results of the study will be required by their physician as well as the urgency of the case. Patients for ultrasound gets the report of their tests immediately such is done and X-ray results are collected within a week.
“In emergency cases, even before the patient gets back to his or her doctor, a telephone call would have gone ahead to alert the doctor in charge of anything discovered to require urgent attention, “said Dr Famurewa.
Although the hospital’s Accident and Emergency (A&E) unit is usually a beehive, given that weekly, it receives victims from at least three batches of accident cases, the unit’s policy is never to turn any patient back because of lack of funds.
“Our priority is to save life; even when people are brought in unconscious, there is facility to collect drugs to keep treating them until their relatives are located.
“At times of crisis, the whole place is jam packed. Aside the 20 beds in the causality department, excluding those in the consulting rooms, patients are kept on stretchers and so on just to make sure that no one is turned back. This is important because a minute delay can make a difference between life and death,” said Mr Olufemi Babalola, sectional head of nurses, A&E unit.
Also at the 23-bedded paediatric surgical ward, where children requiring surgery operation are admitted, Mrs Comfort Ajala, a ward leader, was seen attending to patients in the ward that also had nursing students from OAU, Ile-Ife on hospital posting.
No doubt, the hospital has many ongoing building projects to position it to meet the health needs in the 21st century. “Many projects are yet to be completed, they are in the hospital’s 2014 budget,” said Professor Victor Adetiloye, Chief Medical Director (CMD), OAUTH, Ile-Ife.
Included in the 2014 budgets are completion of and equipment of 75-warded orthopaedic unit, central pharmacy building, maternity and neonatal ward and the equipping of cardiac centre, among others.
Although, these were all projects commenced by the hospital’s previous administration, he said “all of them cannot be completed in 2014; some will roll into 2015 budget, subject to availability of funds from the Federal Government.”
Staffs, including nurses, to work in these facilities are also included in the 2014 budget. “For instance, we projected that we will need 150 nurses, but the money given to us can only take care of 50 nurses,” he said.
Aside the hospital’s infection control ensured by a team led by a consultant medical microbiologist, and as such infection spread is low, he assured that there was no need for the surgical operation required by any individual to be delayed.
“When the patient is seen at the clinic by the doctor, he will decide whether the case requires an urgent surgical intervention or if it has to be an elective surgical intervention as well as the appropriate time for such a surgical intervention. As far as an emergency surgery is concerned, it has to be done immediately.”
While electricity supply had been constant for some months at the hospital, and efforts are on to sustain this, Professor Adetiloye said the hospital will continue to aspire to improve services to its clients, adding, “there is no system that is perfect, you just have to be striving to reach greater heights.”
He added: “When we compare our services with that of other hospitals, I don’t think we are doing badly. But that is not to say that we do not have areas that we need to do some work to ensure adequate improvement.”
Aside the hospital regularly sending its staffs for both local and international trainings and conferences as part of efforts to boost their morale, he declared “no staff or pensioner is owed any salary. In the case of the contractors, those owed are paid as government releases funds to the hospital.”
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