Bauchi — Following the lingering strike action embarked upon by members of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), patients unable to afford exorbitant charges at private hospitals and clinics are now being forced to patronise herbal medicine practitioners, and spiritual homes to cure their ailments.
A patient at the state's Bayara Teaching hospital, Buba Abdulsalam, told **Daily Independent,** Monday, he visited Dass Local Government to seek medical attention, where he learnt that the strike still on.
"As it is now, I don't have enough money to go to a private clinic, so I have resorted to patronise, a herbal practitioner for medication in the town," he said.
Abdulsalam prayed God that the face-off between government and the NMA would be resolved soon, for normalcy to return to public hospitals.
Our correspondent learnt that many patients who were abandoned by the striking medical doctors at both at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching hospital (ATBTH) and Specialist Hospital in Bauchi are now living at the mercy of nurses, midwives and auxiliary staff in various hospitals.
Patients are only attended to at the out-patient units by the nurses, with little skeletal services rendered at the Accident and Emergency units of the hospitals by professors of medicine and consultants.
The situation was even worse at the orthopedic and surgical wards of both health facilities, as many with complicated cases were left at the mercy of the nurses and auxiliary staff.
For operators of private hospitals and clinics in the state capital, business is booming as most clinics visited by our correspondent showed that many sick people visited them in search of medical attention.
Many patients in the state metropolis throng private hospitals and clinics, seeking medical attention.
When contacted, the Acting Chief Medical Director (CMD) of ATBTH, Dr Yusuf Jibril, said no new in-patients are being admitted, following which there are several empty bed spaces. Even those on admission before the strike are discharged as soon as they recuperate.
The CMD added that despite the freeze on new admissions, due to the lingering strike, "but if there are emergencies like accidents, operations and dialysis cases, we show compassion and consultant doctors give medical attention to such patients.
"The situation is quite unfortunate for patients in the country, because if there is any sector of the economy that does not need to go on strike, it is the health sector," he told Daily Independent
Dr Jibril called for the quick resolution of the strike to enable patients access health care delivery, stressing that prolonging the strike will worsen the hardship already experienced across the country.
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