In this concluding part, PUNCH Healthwise investigation reveals how doctors at the Federal Teaching Hospital, Lokoja in Kogi State, are overwhelmed by a lack of modern working equipment amid severe manpower shortage, leading to cases of collapse of health workers, medical errors, and avoidable deaths. SODIQ OJUROUNGBE reports Not even the health workers of Federal Teaching Hospital, Lokoja were spared from the avoidable deaths that have plagued the facility due to a lack of medical facilities. On March 31, 2024, Salamatu Aliu, a dedicated attendant at the hospital, lost her life after completing a seven-day night shift.
Having worked tirelessly to care for others, Salamatu returned home that evening feeling unusually weak and breathless. As her condition worsened, her family rushed her back to the hospital where she had spent years working. But instead of receiving the care she had given so selflessly to others, Salamatu was allegedly turned away from the Accident and Emergency department.
Despite the desperate pleas from her family, the hospital staff refused to admit her, citing a lack of power and the inability to provide any treatment. PUNCH Healthwise gathered that doctors and nurses on duty referred Salamatu to the Specialist Hospital in Lokoja. Unfortunately, she passed away upon arrival at the Specialist Hospital in Lokoja before receiving any medical care.
Her death, however, led to a protest in the hospital on April 4, 2024, from her colleagues, who urged the Federa.
