Aftermath of rejection of patients: stakeholders, Abuja & Health ministers agree to stop hospitals’ action

Following repeated reports of sick persons being turned away from Abuja hospitals, the Federal Capital Territory Administration and the Federal Ministry of Health have agreed to partner to ensure that no patient is sent back from any public hospital in the FCT for fear of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Videos and posts have emerged on social media of persons been turned back from hospitals, in one case leading to an unverified death. Others have complained, like the family of late Joseph Obochi Idoko, of misdiagnosis, abandonment, and subsequent death of their loved ones. The Idokos are yet to receive a response to their letter of complaint to the Minister of Health; Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), and the Chief Medical Director of the National Hospital.
Over five weeks after he was said to have died of Covid-19, no contract tracing has been done to his home and neighbourhood, according to his family.
While some complain of being turned back by hospital staff, there are reports of others who are hospital-shy for fear of contracting the disease.
But the decision by the Ministries of Health and FCT to tackle cases of patients being turned back came after a stakeholders’ meeting held at the instance of the FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello and his Health Ministry counterpart, Dr Osagie Ehanire, to address increasing cases of inaccessibility of routine healthcare services in Abuja healthcare facilities.
The FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello, decried the trend saying, a situation where the entire system is skewed and geared towards fighting only one, out of hundreds of ailments, is a cause for great concern.
According to the FCT Minister, “Sad stories of people being turned away from hospitals with non-Covid related ailments or even denied life-saving first aid treatments for fear of contraction of the virus have come to the fore”, adding that “the increasing number of cases due to community transmission has thrown up the necessity of all our hospitals to become directly involved in this fight, especially with the collection of samples…”
He assured of a continued partnership between the FCTA and the Federal Ministry of Health in  the use of the facilities and expertise of both organisations for the improvement of health services in the FCT.
While commending health workers for their efforts in the fight against the pandemic, the Minister expressed the commitment of the FCT Administration towards sustained partnerships to step up public awareness, which, he said, was the key to putting a lid on its spread.
In his comments the Hon. Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, urged management of public hospitals not to give room for other life threatening illnesses to thrive and increase mortality.
This, he said, would bring about a serious setback if medical services, including emergency services, begin to deteriorate in the wake of COVID 19. He stressed that neglect of any sick person was unethical and not acceptable while  assuring that adequate steps were being taken to ensure that patients are not turned away from hospitals to die needlessly,
He further warned  that Chief Medical Directors of hospitals would be held accountable personally for the outcome emanating from their hospital, stressing that, “no emergency should be denied attention, even if it means admitting someone on a stretcher or an examination couch, to give them life-saving oxygen, instead of rejecting them and saying you have no bed. You have to do something. The least is to give oxygen”.
The Health Minister also informed the gathering that the Nigerian Airforce has guaranteed the supply of oxygen when needed, urging hospital heads  to ensure that patients are attended to with dignity and dispatch saying that in  subsequent meetings, medical directors of private hospitals will be briefed on this development.
Speaking on COVID-19, Dr Ehanire said “The Hon. Minister of FCT and I have agreed on the protocol to link all major public hospitals in the FCT catchment area, whether they are managed by Federal or FCT Administration, to the COVID-19 sample collection site to facilitate fast sample collection, reduce turnaround time for test results and to bring more efficiency to the response strategy.
In his submission, the Director-General, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu commended the FCT Minister and his team for the long strides taken to curb the spread of the pandemic in the FCT .
According to the NCDC Boss, “The FCT has been an absolute leader in the work we have done. We have close to 20,000 tests in the FCT and about 2,000 positives. This is the highest number of tests per population in any state in Nigeria. This shows the excellent work that has happened in FCT.
He also disclosed that the NCDC will support the FCT team in operationalising seven sample collection sites across the Territory.
These are in the National Reference Laboratory in Gaduwa, the Federal Ministry of Health premises, Federal Medical Center Jabi, National Hospital, University of Abuja Teaching Hospital in Gwagwalada and the General Hospitals in Garki and Nyanya.
“We will start with these seven, aiming that by the end of the week after, we will operationalise across all general hospitals in the FCT to be sample collection sites” Dr Ihekweazu said.
He further disclosed that the NCDC will provide training sample collection materials quality assurance and Infection Prevention and Control support in all the sites.
At the end of the meeting, the Medical Directors of public hospitals in the FCT pledged that no patient will be denied necessary health care at the hospitals and commended the FCT Administration for the provision of adequate Personal Protective Equipment, PPEs in all the hospitals.