Inadequate bed spaces in Lagos public health facilities inexcusable

SIR: For several decades in the history of Lagos public health institutions, stories of rejection of patients outrightly or their being referred elsewhere in the excuse of lack of bed spaces are very rampant. Due to such sad trend, so many people in critical conditions needing urgent attention keep losing their lives on daily basis, yet, successive Lagos governments continue to ignore the problem as if it does not exist.

The situation is now so bad that admission into government’s hospitals in Lagos has become a complete racket enjoyed only by highest bidders to the detriment of the downtrodden masses who are being sent to their early graves owing to rejection by Lagos health workers.

This should not be so if the Lagos government is more proactive and ready to attend to the needs of the people especially those who cannot afford the luxury of private hospitals. Accepted that a state with fast growing population like Lagos may experience some difficulty in getting government’s attention to attend to all the needs of everybody but emergency cases should at least be treated as such and rejection or referring such cases elsewhere should be outlawed in order to save lives.

Besides, the Lagos government also needs to invest massively in expanding its health facilities in a manner that can cope adequately with the rising population. Doing so is both desirable and achievable and all that is required is for the government to cut down on its frivolous spendings such as procuring a helipad which made headlines some years back. It’s even surprising that since the helipad was launched with much fanfare up till date nobody has been able to probe how much it cost and how far it has been put to use.

But if not for anything, it showed significantly how so much money gets frittered away on mere cosmetics while items begging for urgent attention are neglected and patients keep suffering and lamenting. There are always many indicators to show that more than enough funds lies within the coffers of Lagos government to invest into rapid expansion in order to provide more facilities to save lives since the only item not taxed in Lagos is the air people breathe and the government should at least be able to give back to the society in a more convincing manner through prompt attention in its health facilities.

What most families even seek are just attention, not free service owing to the belief that government’s hospital is the best place to meet experts in different fields. Rejecting patients whose families are ready to foot the bills of treatment or referring them to private hospitals where they pay tripple the normal bill is therefore a very wicked practice perpetrated by medical personnel which needs to be checked. The government also needs to look into and address the grievances of the health workers which most times make them bitter and unwilling to discharge their functions satisfactorily.