DOCTORS’ STRIKE: Lagos to bear healthcare bills of patients in private hospitals - Vanguard Newspaper

                                 

AS the strike called by the Medical Guild, doctors under employment of Lagos State Government enters its third day; the State government has offered to pick up the bills of patients referred from its hospitals to private hospitals.
To this end, the state government has identified some private hospitals that could offer secondary care to serve as rescue centres for patients in critical conditions who cannot be handled at the state owned-hospitals due to the strike.

Two hospitals around Ikeja area of Lagos, Shepherd Medical Centre and Unity Hospital, have been designated by the state government to treat all referral cases from LASUTH.
Addressing journalists on services available at LASUTH, the Chief Medical Director, Prof Adewale Oke, who said the decision of government was to forestall loss of lives as a result of the industrial action, however, confirmed that no life has been lost at the hospital since the strike began.

His words: “The Ministry of Health has identified some private hospitals all over Lagos for this rescue mission. But Unity Hospital and Shepherd Medical Centre will handle referral cases from LASUTH and Lagos State government will foot the bill.”

Oke noted that the rescue centres had become necessary because the state-owned hospitals can no longer run full hospital services as a result of the strike and skeletal services rendered by some consultants was like a drop in the ocean.

Explaining the situation at LASUTH, he said: “Since the strike started the hospital has made necessary arrangements to ensure that emergency cases and patients in the wards are taken care of. What we have done here is to ensure that emergency departments are running. We have a fair coverage to ensure that no life was lost unnecessarily.”

Oke who said that at least two or more consultants (senior doctors) were stationed in all the departments since the strike started, added: “To sustain emergency services we posted some consultants to run the Surgical Emergency unit, Paediatric Emergency unit, Out-patient Emergency unit and other emergency units in the hospital. We hope that by the end of the warning strike, dialogue between doctors and government will yield results so as to prevent continuation of the action. As reported by Vanguard Newspaper this morning.