The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has said it had begun a comprehensive investigation to ascertain the truth about a viral video on social media, purporting that an accident victim was rejected by Maitama District hospital.
Acting Secretary, Health and Human Services Secretariat (HHSS) of the FCTA, Dr Muhammed Kawu, who was in the hospital to see the accident victim in question, identified as George Imohimi, and a resident of Mpape who hails from Edo State, insisted that whoever found guilty on the matter would be sanctioned in accordance with the Civil Service rules.
The acting secretary explained that the investigation was to ensure that no staff jeopardises the efforts of the administration towards health service delivery, reiterating the commitment of the administration towards efficient healthcare service, noting that all public hospitals in the territory are bound to accept and treat accident victims before any other protocols.
“FCTA is very concerned and the Minister has directed that I come here personally and observe the situation and also ensure that it is brought under control. The investigation is ongoing, we have seen the video and we are investigating further.
“The Administration wants to assure all Nigerians, particularly FCT residents that all public facilities are for the public and every person has the right to go to any of these hospitals and must be attended to.
”This has been the policy and will continue to be so. The policy is that you take in accident victims and treat them before you look for police. We will let the public know what the issue is all about after the investigation. But now the patient is getting adequate attention. Any public servant that is found to have erred will be dealt with according to civil service rules”, Kawu said.
Also speaking, the Chief Medical Director of the Hospital, Dr Imuentinyan Igbinovia, said that the victim was taken into the emergency unit for proper attention, as against the message conveyed by the viral video.
Igbinovia, however, noted that the lady who brought the accident victim had expressed discontent over the delay in admitting the victim, but after explaining the situation to her, the disagreements with the emergency unit staff was resolved.
The CMD further clarified that despite the great influx of patients into the hospital daily, the hospital management has remained committed to excellent health care services to all residents.
He also confirmed that the patient in question is receiving the best medical treatment obtainable in the hospital, and has been recuperating very well.
Igbinovia said, ” it was on Monday around 8 am, about an hour prior then some accident victims were rushed in and staff were seeing them and I joined them. About 30 minutes later another accident victim was rushed in and the staff also went to attend to the second set of victims.
” Unfortunately there was an altercation between those that rushed the victims and the accident emergency staff. I was able to calm down the situation and also spoke to the lady who brought in the accident victim.
“Immediately after that, a stretcher was brought and the victim was taken into the emergency unit. After the victim was admitted and stabilised, I spoke with the Police Divisional Officer who was also around.
“The lady who brought in the victim thought that our responses would have been faster, I explained the situation to her.
” To the best of our knowledge, the matter has been settled. The victim is in the ward now receiving treatment and is getting better. To our surprise, we saw the social media messages which we have taken in good faith. I want to assure the public that Maitama hospital is poised to take care of patients and from what you can see, there is a very large crowd that come here every day”.
Follow the Neptune Prime channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va74ZvU2v1IqKByXoX3d
Do you have breaking news, interview request, opinion, suggestion, or want your event covered? Email us at neptuneprime2233@gmail.com
