FCT hospitals domesticate patient’s bill of rights

Hospitals in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have domesticated the recently launched Patients’ Bill of Rights to promote and protect the rights of patients in hospitals in Abuja.

Speaking during the domestication held at Wellington Neurosurgery Centre and Alliance Hospital in Abuja, yesterday, the Director General of the Consumer Protection Council (CPC), Barrister Babatunde Irukera, said Nigerian doctors are among the best of brains in medical practice globally and as such patients should get the best medical care in Nigeria.

Irukera said there was need for hospitals and all healthcare practitioners to respect the rights of patients and accord priority to life before medical bills.

The CPC boss called for hospitals in the country to domesticate the bill in order for their workers to be circumspect in how they treat patients.

A senior consultant at Wellington Hospital, Dr. Charles Ugwuanyi, said patients must be alive before they can pay bills and as such hospitals should not deny medical attention to patients in emergency due to financial consideration.

He advocated employing hospitals trained administrators who would run the hospitals while doctors concentrated on their core professional functions.

The Medical Director of Alliance Hospital, Abuja, Dr. Christopher Otabor, said doctors must prioritise the rights of patients and treat them with dignity.

Represented by a consultant gynaecologist, Dr. Rebecca Adeyemi, Dr. Otabor enjoined all healthcare workers to respect the rights of patients.