Patients across the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have lamented worsening service delivery at public hospitals, as pharmacies, laboratories, and key clinical units reportedly operate at skeletal levels.
Findings by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday revealed widespread disruption of essential healthcare services in several general hospitals across Abuja.
At Kubwa General Hospital, a patient, Mr Rotimi Raheem, said hospital pharmacies were shut while laboratory staff were absent, leaving patients stranded and unable to access prescribed drugs or conduct medical tests.
“At the moment, nothing is really working. The pharmacies are locked, and there are no lab technicians on duty,” Raheem said.
At Wuse General Hospital, another patient, Mr Ibeto Onakwe, complained that emergency units were largely deserted, noting that only a handful of doctors were seen moving around without attending to patients requiring urgent medical attention.
Similarly, at Nyanya General Hospital, Mr Idris Yahuri said administrative officers responsible for issuing patient files were not at their duty posts, making it impossible for patients to retrieve medical records needed for treatment.
Health sector experts have attributed the situation to severe manpower shortages.
The President of the Association of Resident Doctors, University of Abuja Teaching Hospital (ARD-UATH), Mr Adewale-Adeleye Premiere, said most FCT hospitals were critically understaffed due to the ongoing migration of health workers out of Nigeria.
He warned that the scale of medical brain drain posed a serious threat to healthcare delivery if urgent action was not taken.
“At UATH alone, we used to have between 500 and 600 resident doctors. Today, we have barely 220. This drastic reduction has significantly weakened our capacity to provide quality healthcare across the Middle Belt,” Premiere said.
According to him, many doctors have relocated to countries such as the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates in search of better working conditions, further overstretching the remaining workforce.
He explained that each departure increases pressure on the doctors left behind, leading to burnout and declining service quality.
Although resident doctors are not currently on strike, Premiere warned that continued neglect of welfare and working conditions could force health workers to consider industrial action in the future.
Patients have called on the FCT Administration and the Federal Government to urgently address staffing shortages and restore full services at public hospitals to prevent a total breakdown of the healthcare system.
Visit GMTNewsng for more news.
