Lagosians groan under hike in medical bills

…As doctors, nurses’ strike bite harder

 

People intending to seek healthcare in private hospitals in Lagos and environs are not experiencing the best of times at the moment following the industrial action by health workers in the state. This is as they are now paying higher than usual to obtain such services.

This development is traceable to the fall-out of the protracted doctors and nurses’ strikes called by the Medical Guild and the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), respectively, which has further worsened the plight of those in need of medical attention in the state.

Investigations by BusinessDay recently revealed that owners of many private clinics and hospitals in the state seem to have reviewed their charges upward in an attempt to cash-in on the inability of Lagos State government and the striking unions to come to terms with their respective demands.

A visit to some private hospitals at Oshodi, Maryland, Surulere, and Apapa revealed a hike in medical bills which affected normal registration, consultation charges and minor outpatient treatments. Charges for medical tests, hospital admissions, antenatal care/delivery, dental care, as well as other medical treatments such as MRI scan, CT scan, etc, have also increased.

Ngozi Nwaka, who resides in Mafoluku, Oshodi, recounted her ordeal on how a private hospital imposed a 15 percent increment in its charges without her knowledge.

According to Nwaka, “I have been having severe pains at the lower part of my abdomen, so I decided to visit a nearby private clinic since government-owned hospitals were grounded by the strike. I was shocked when I was told that the consultation fee which was N1, 500 has been hiked to N2, 500. I have been to this same hospital several times in the past. When I was told that I will undergo some laboratory tests, I was scared of even seeing the doctor. I decided to opt for the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), in great pain.”

Nnamdi Onwunma, a patient who visited Dortem Specialist Hospital, Surulere, for medical examination, said: “It seems the private hospital owners have met to fix arbitrary uniform bills. So, whichever way one looks at the situation, it is the patient who is the loser. It is because doctors and nurses in government hospitals are on strike that people are forced to go elsewhere. Those who can afford the high charges of the private hospitals are just a handful. What doctors and nurses are asking for will ultimately result in higher per-person cost of healthcare.”

Taking a cursory look at the entire scenario, what seems to bother Lagosians most is that the hospital strikes are not about the patient or the interest of patients. In the meantime, the impact of the ongoing state-wide strike by doctors and nurses has been a source of worry in the last five weeks. This is because in line with the saying that when two elephants fight, the grass suffers, the patients as usual have been groaning in pains since the beginning of the strike.

It will be recalled that nurses in the state under the NANNM downed tools last week Thursday at the expiration of a seven-day  ultimatum given to the Lagos State government to implement the full payment of the Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS), an improved salary structure currently enjoyed by their colleagues in federal health institutions across the country.

Their action has completely grounded services the state teaching hospital, 26 general hospitals and over 270 primary health care centres across Lagos. Aside the CONHESS which the state chapter of the NANNM is asking for, it is also pressing for the payment of the eight months’ arrears of clinical duty allowance owed its members.

 

Before now, all state hospitals were struggling under the crushing weight of a five-week old doctors’ strike called by the Medical Guild over non-implementation of the Consolidate Medical Institutions Salary Scale (CONMESS) among other demands.

With elections just a few weeks from now, people remain skeptical as to when the various strike actions will be called off in view of various party campaigns in a bid to seek election into various offices.