Furore over rejection of accident patient at Maitama hospital

There was furore over the alleged rejection of an accident victim brought to the Maitama District Hospital, Abuja, by a Good Samaritan.

A three minutes video which went viral two days ago showed chaotic scenes of the hospital’s staff quarrelling with the citizen who brought the victim to the hospital in her Lexus RX350 SUV.

The citizen who did not reveal her identify spoke in Hausa language, insisting that the hospital accept the victim after the patient was referred to the National Hospital.

However, the patient, identified as George Imohimi, a resident of Mpape, was eventually admitted at the hospital and he is said to be recuperating.

The Chief Medical Director of the Hospital, Dr. Imuentinyan Igbinovia, said Imohimi was admitted in the emergency unit of the hospital and was receiving proper care.

“It was on Monday around 8am about an hour prior to that, some accident victims were rushed in and staff were seeing to them and I joined them. About 30 minutes later another set of accident victims was rushed in and the staff also went to attend to them.

“Unfortunately there was altercation between those that brought the victims and the accident and emergency staff but I was able to calm down the situation and also spoke to the lady who brought in the accident victim.

“Immediately after that a stretcher was brought and the victim was taken into the emergency unit. After the victim was admitted and stabilised I spoke with the Police Divisional Officer who was also around.

“The lady who brought in the victim thought that our responses would have been faster, I explained the situation to her.

“To the best of our knowledge the matter has been settled. The victim is in the ward now receiving treatment and is getting better.

“To our surprise we saw the social media messages which we have taken in good faith. I want to assure the public that Maitama hospital is poised to take care of patients and from what you can see, a very large crowd comes here every day,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Acting Secretary, FCTA Health and Human Services Secretariat, Dr. Muhammed Kawu, said an investigation into the incidents recorded in the video had been launched.

Kawu who was in the hospital to see the accident victim, vowed that any staff found to have exhibited negligence in the matter would be sanctioned in accordance with the Civil Service rules.

“FCTA is very concerned and the minister has directed that I come here, observe the situation and ensure that it is brought under control,” he said.