Patients should expect excellent care as standard from healthcare practitioners at all times. Mistakes leading to injuries and death occur in hospitals, Healthcare practitioners must learn from these mistakes to minimise the risk of reoccurrence. Patient stories are powerful in conveying the impact of poor care. This section welcomes your stories (factual). Anonymity will be kept.

 

22 May 2015

Last week Chike, Sola, Ibrahim died.

 

Chike was 3years and died from Asthma. There was no asthma drug in the hospital to treat him. Chike should not have died.

 

Sola delivered a baby and then started bleeding; there was no blood to transfuse her in the hospital blood bank. Giving Sola blood would have saved her.

 

Ibrahim had a cough. He felt unwell. He had a temperature He attended a chemist and was prescribed cough medicine. He did not feel better - His breathing was rapid. Ibrahim went to a doctor who said he needed panadol to bring his temperature down. Ibrahim went home, took his cough medicine and panadol. Ibrahim was found dead in his bed the next day. He had died of Sepsis. The healthcare system had failed Ibrahim.

 

Chike was daughter in a family; Sola was a mother, wife and with her aspirations; Ibrahim was a university student. These Nigerians should not have died.

 

Patients' stories are very powerful in effecting change in healthcare. Let the Presidency, Health Minister and Commissioners, Health Management Boards, Doctors, Nurses listen to harrowing patients' stories in their states and hospitals.

 

The Child, Woman and Man died - their deaths were avoidable and should not have happened. How many Nigerians die from avoidable deaths? 'The devil has not done its worst' but the Nigerian health system let them down.

 

Each Nigerian Life is priceless. Our politicians and healthcare professionals should rise up to the challenge of preventing premature and avoidable deaths. The public must demand from elected politicians and healthcare professionals safe and quality healthcare.

‪#‎Each Nigerian Life Is Priceless