Doctor Explains Why Hospitals in Nigeria Require Deposits Before Treatment

I saw a post where a pregnant woman died after the hospital insisted on them making a deposit of 500k before attending to her. Many people are cursing the hospital calling the Doctors evil. But please stay with me.

It is easy to get emotional in situations like this, but hospitals are usually pushed to this tight corner due to experiences in the past.

I managed a little private practice in a community in Ekiti state sometime in 2021. When I started, I was so selfless and would manage every case first and ask for money before discharge. Most times people paid back my kindness with wickedness.

In a particular quite interesting case , a 19 year old girl had used local methods to carry out an abortion and there were complications. She was rushed in unconscious, with fever of 41 degrees Celsius, heart rate of 155bpm, respiratory rate of 32c/m. iv Rocephin was one of the antibiotics we knew would save her life. The hospital pharmacy did not have it and I prescribed for them to buy outside. When they went to check the price they realized they could not afford it. Her mother wailed like a child. Rocephin (an apex brand of Ceftriaxone) is one of the very expensive antibiotics in Nigeria.

I could not stand seeing her die because of money so I dipped my hand inside my pocket and gave her mom money to go buy the antibiotics. I spent 121 000 Naira in total, I borrowed part of the money, hoping I would get it back when she became well. Day after day, after filing in vials and vials of Rocephin, Slowly she came out of her coma and her symptoms started resolving. Everyone was happy. I feel fulfilled

I came to work one morning to meet the most rude shock of my life. Itunu had disappeared from the hospital with her mother, without paying the hospital bills or refunding the money I borrowed to buy antibiotics for her.

At that point I made a very difficult decision for the rest of my stay there, not to ever leave the Doctor’s lodge until the nurses confirmed that the patient had made a deposit and never to dip my hands in my pocket again. Of course people called me a heartless and wicked Doctor, but they had no idea about the experiences that brought me there .

There is a solution to all this.

This is another opportunity to let everyone know that there is something called Health Insurance in Nigeria and it is very active and effective . There are many HMO (Health Management Organization) which register you and take a token monthly or yearly so that anytime you have a medical emergency, hospitals will attend to you and you won’t have to pay. There are different plans for different socio-economic classes.

Please don’t wait until you have emergencies before you start thinking about your health.

You that is reading this, have you registered with an HMO?

I know loss of life is sad and generates a loss of emotions. This is not justified and should never happen. However our anger is misdirected . Our anger should not be directed at hospitals for trying to stay in businesses. It should be directed at the government for failing to do the needful. Firstly, if citizens are empowered, they can be better positioned to pay for their health or buy health insurance packages.

I saw some people say the hospital should have treated first and not let them go until they pay, but I tell you that I have seen patient relatives call police for a Doctor for “holding them against their wish.” because the Doctor refused to unlock the gate for them to go without settling their bills. Doctor was even charged for kidnapping. Thank God for his sound Lawyer who rescued him.

Nigeria already has a great shortage of hospitals and health professionals, if hospitals don’t insist on upfront payment, staff can’t be paid. They will close down and more people will die. We should use the energy and call out government to make healthcare free and in the interim, educate people to buy health insurance packages so that they can be treated in emergency situations without being asked for deposit.

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