‘Nizamiye is committed to development of the health sector in Nigeria’

The Nizamiye hospital Abuja has been in the news lately. In this interview, Mohammed Abubakar, public relations officer of the hospital, sheds light on the various challenges facing the hospital as well as some of the successes recorded in recent times. 

Q. The Nizamiye hospital has been in the news lately over a high mortality rate. What do you have to say about that? 

 A. Thank you, as a first, we are a pristine medical facility with an unalloyed mandate to contribute positively to the development of the health sector in Nigeria and this much we have strived to stay true to. Yes, you are right, we have been in the news lately for one or two reasons, but I can assure you that the medical breakthroughs we have recorded in the past four years are as well outstanding.

 On the issue of mortality rate, I am not sure the figures are as high as been speculated; in my opinion, it is a function of the social status of patients involved. But what I can say also is that since the inception of the hospital, we have had the challenge of extreme cases of patients coming to us when all hope is lost, and in most instances, when patients are in a coma. 

 You could argue that this has somewhat affected the image of the hospital because some patient relatives would always expect our doctors to perform magic even with overwhelming evidence that nothing could be done medically once an illness gets to an advanced stage.

This is also of the heels that there is an acute shortage of advanced Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in the country and we are one of the hospitals in the country with advanced ICU facility, and as such hospitals send their patients to us when all avenues have been exhausted to see what can be done in our ICU facility.

I must add that when a patient gets to the level of admission into the ICU, the chances of survival are very slim, say between 5-10% because at that stage, the system is shutting down with multiple organ failures and would be dependent on machines to come back to functionality again.

This is the major challenge we are facing at the hospital. We get countless requests for usage of our ICU daily, and as we speak, our ICU is overstretched. The ICU specialists rarely have a breather. It is quite challenging and a significant reason why it seems there is a high mortality rate at the hospital. I must state that over 95% of the deaths at the hospital are ICU cases, which are a common occurrence the world over.

I must also add that upon realization of this challenge, the management of the hospital had a strategic meeting to understand why such is happening, and three revelations were made. One is the fact that we have over 20 resident expatriate consultants, the nonchalance toward undergoing medical check-up regularly, and our ICU facility.

Consequently, the management, in a bid to stem the tide and encourage Nigerians to undergo medical check-up regularly, introduced a 40% discount on our various medical check-up packages, which runs for three months every year (October to December). And I must quickly add that with this we have been able to catch some life-threatening illnesses at the early stages. 

 I will give an example of a woman that walked in for a routine medical check-up, not feeling any form of discomfort. Upon examination, it was discovered that she had a tumour in her kidney. This woman was successfully operated upon at our facility, and today she is an advocate of the hospital everywhere she goes. 

 Q. Talking about bad cases at the hospital, it is expected that with the level of medical expertise at the hospital, such patients should be able to pull through. 

 A. I must state that in medicine, the location or colour of the skin is not a factor for consideration. In medicine, a bad case is a bad case also regardless of the continent. For instance, if a patient is diagnosed with an advanced stage of a brain tumour or suffering from multiple organ failures, there is little that a doctor can do no matter how highly skilled. The best that can happen in such a situation to make interventions in the ICU and that is why it is called intensive care. It means the organs need support to function.

 Some patients pull through some don’t. That is medicine. I can state in unequivocal terms that Nizamiye hospital can be faulted along other lines but not on the strength of medical negligence or lack of expertise because we have some of the best hands in the country. We spared no expenses in ensuring that expatriate doctors coming to the hospital must have attained a standard internationally before they join the services of the hospital; this also accounts for some of the medical breakthroughs we have had since the inception of the hospital. 

Q. Talking about medical breakthroughs, can you shed more light on them? 

A. You know, as a hospital, there is a limit on how you should blow your trumpet. If I am correct, hospitals are not permitted to engage in any form of outright advertisement. And that explains why you would not find us on the pages of the newspaper now and then. But I can tell you that in our little way and corner, we have contributed immensely to the development of the health sector in Nigeria, and our over 60,000 patients can readily attest to this fact. This is also cognisant of the fact that we cannot provide 100% satisfaction to everybody because of some challenges. But overall, I can state that we have done tremendously well in a fair assessment. 

Q. What are the plans for the future? 

 A. Our commitment to the development of the health sector in Nigeria is unflinching. We have a team of medical experts that have distinguished themselves in their various disciplines. We are adding more specialties to take care of quite many medical cases. For instance, we have a resident cardio-vascular surgery team that performs open-heart surgeries. We also have a one-stop cardiac clinic equipped with a functional cat lab. Our pulmonary clinic also boasts of a well-experienced pulmonologist and the likes.

The hospital is continually expanding to accommodate more wards and operating theatres. In the nearest future and with the investment we have made in the hospital, I think Nigerians would not have a reason to travel abroad for medical treatment.