How Alleged Sharp Practices By Doctors at Asubiaro Gen Hospital Endanger Pregnant Women’s Lives

Allegations of sharp practices by doctors and matron in general hospital, Asubiaro, Osogbo are becoming a reoccurring decimal, making people to lose confidence in the personnel and medical services in the hospital.

Commonly, the doctors are being accused of lackadaisical attitude to patients in the hospital, and instead of giving them (patients) due medical attention; the doctors do refer patient s to their various private hospitals for treatment.

It was gathered that the referrer of patients by the doctors at Asubiaro to their private hospitals for treatment has become a ‘normal practice’ to enrich themselves at the expense of the medical and financial condition of the patients.

Some of the medical personnel at the hospital, according to reports, are allegedly working to sabotage the effort of Governor Rauf Aregbesola at providing quality healthcare delivery to the people of the state.

Recent findings by the medium have revealed that the unprofessional conducts of the doctors at the hospital is prominent at the antenatal section of the hospital.

It was gathered that pregnant women do spend between three to five hours before being attended to by the doctors and matrons at the hospitals.

The medium learnt that some of the doctors and matron are in the habit of subjecting the pregnant women to inhumane treatment and abusing them, a situation that do frustrate some of them to leave the hospital without medical attention.

Some pregnant women, who spoke with the medium on condition of anonymity, accused the doctors of negligence and nonchalant attitude to their healthcare, alleging of sabotage, swindling and unethical conducts.

According to the pregnant women, some of doctors attending to pregnant women usually give them drugs they claimed to be anti-malarial, whereas, the drugs tightens pelvic muscles so that such woman in labour would not be able to deliver on her own.

The pregnant women alleged further that the doctors would thereafter injected the pregnant woman to make her weak to scare her and her relatives.

As a result, many of the pregnant women who took the drug and are unable to deliver on their own would be referred to the private hospitals of the doctors for caesarean with a uniform amount of N150, 000.

They said: “We are antenatal patients at the general hospital, Asubiaro in Osogbo. Doctors attending to pregnant women in the hospital usually give us drugs claiming it was anti-malarial drugs. This drugs works for tightening of the vagina so that the woman would not be able to deliver the baby on her own. This is done in conjunction with some matrons at the hospital.

“When woman in labour was unable to deliver as a result of the non opening of the vagina, they will tell the patient that they want to help her by referring her to a doctor. They will warn her not to tell the gatemen where she was going to if asked.

“To the surprise of the patient, the doctor would turn out to be the same doctor attending to them at Asubiaro hospital and then tell her that she needs Caesarian Section (CS) which will cost her 150, 000 naira.”

According to the pregnant women, some of the doctors in the ugly practice do boast of their ‘connection with the security agents’ and as such they could not be arrested.

According to the pregnant women, the private hospitals the affected doctors refers their victims to are Atoke Hospital, Igbona area, Oasis of Grace Hospital beside Ota-Efun Garage and Osogbo Special Hospital Oke Baale, all in Osogbo.

They challenged anyone to visit the private hospitals listed and interview each of the antenatal patients there on the circumstances that led them to hospitals.

They stated that as Aregbesola government is working to protect lives of women in the state, the doctors and matrons at Asubiaro hospital are sabotaging his efforts.

“If any woman delivered at Asubiaro hospital, it must have been that the head of the baby was already out before she got to the hospital”, the stated.

Our reporter recalled a case of a pregnant woman who claimed to have been referred to Atoke Hospital located at Baba Omigbodun’s house junction, Owode-Igbona Area, Osogbo last year.

The pregnant woman said she was referred to the Atoke Hospital from Asubiaro where she had been having her antennal.

She delivered her baby girl through caesarean section and she was billed N150, 000.

When contacted, the state Commissioner for Health, Dr Rafiu Isamotu said the state government would look into the matter.

Reacting to the allegations, the Acting Chief Consultant of the hospital, Dr Ola Ibigbami, said “I do not think that is true, saying some people might want to spoil the name of people that work here.”

Ibigbami said it is illegal for any doctor to refer patient at general hospital to any private hospital, explaining that a patient could only be referred to higher or specialist hospital with referrer letter.

He called on any patient that has fallen victim of such illegal practice to come forward and provide the referrer letter, the name of the hospital and the name of the doctor or health worker that made the referrer.

He said: “We need to educate our people. They should know that we have Primary Health Centre, Secondary Health Centre and Tertiary Health Centre. If there is something the health workers cannot do at the Primary health centre, they will send you to a comprehensive health centre.

“When you get to comprehensive health centre where you find doctors and nurses, they will send you to a higher place like a state hospital, a state hospital can refer to state specialist hospital and a state specialist hospital can refer to either a teaching hospital in Osogbo here or outside Osogbo.

“To refer a patient requires a referrer letter. A referrer letter is a legal document. Referrer is not a wrong thing. If a patient is refer from Asubiaro to Wesley hospital and the ambulance driver goes to somewhere else, there will not be letter to cover it.

“The allegation has not been substantiated. We have not been able to see someone who says Mr A is responsible for the conduct. The few cases we had in the past were investigated and the people involved were dealt with. The allegation is not something we should not continue to discuss if the people involved cannot produce referrer letter or mention the name of the health worker involved.

“You can challenge somebody that he referred a patient, and the response will be where is the referrer letter? Let the people making the allegation come up with referrer letter and if they cannot, they should be able to point to the doctor that refered them. We have means to do with that.”