Most Patients Come to UBTH When Cases are Severe, Says CMD

Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City

The Chief Medical Director, University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), Prof. Darlington Obaseki recently debunked the rumour making rounds that outrageous death toll trails the hospital.

He said rather, many patients are only brought into the hospital when their cases become critical with family members expecting the teaching hospital to perform miracles.

Addressing journalists in Benin City recently as part of activities lined up for a week long Founders’ Day Celebration/Medical Outreach programme, the professor of Morbid Anatomy, stated that the bulk of deaths recorded by the hospital were due to late referrals.

The hospital was established in 1973 by former two-time Governor of Mid-Western region and later Bendel State, late Brig-Gen Samuel Ogbemudia.

He therefore appealed to doctors and hospitals to ensure they refer patients early to UBTH for necessary treatment, adding that the facility remains one of the foremost institutions reputed for training of high and middle manpower as well as pioneer paramedics and other personnel who attend to presently 510 patients in various wards and over 850 bed spaces.

He explained further that the hospital lying on over 150 acres of land has grown to be the second best and highly functional with specialised services in Special Baby Care Unit, Oncology Special Care and Renal Dialysis, Invitro-Fertilisation treatment and Stem Cell plant across the country.

Speaking also on the public outcry about poor services from the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and the quality of drugs offered to patients, the CMD pointed out that staff of the establishment are over worked with doctors, , clinical staff and 700 nurses taking care of over 5, 000 patients even as the number of enrollees have risen from 10,000 to 75,000.

According to him, about 2,400 patients are treated on daily basis at the hospital while generic drugs are usually given as against branded ones which are expensive, stressing that both the management and medical personnel are bleeding in NHIS services.