Take due legal process while making complaint of doctors’ malpractice, Expert urges Nigerians
Doctors’ malpractice: Expert counsel Nigerians to adopt due process
By Maureen Ojinaka
Complaints
Enugu, Dec. 13, 2018 (NAN) Prof. Jonathan Azubuike, Paeditric Consultant, Enugu State Teaching Hospital (ESUTH), has advised Nigerians to adopt due process while making complaints against doctors’ malpractice.
Azubuike gave the advice in a public lecture organised by ESUTH management on Thursday in Enugu.
He said that all apparently injured patients or their relatives needed to officially lay their complaints in writing before the Registrar of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria for legal process to kick-start.
According to him, there are laid-down procedures for tackling cases of medical/dental malpractice, among others in Nigeria.
“There can, therefore, be no justification for any relative who has an axe to grind taking the law into his hand because such deviant behavior, no matter whatever extenuating circumstance that pleaded, is actionable,” he said.
He called on all medical and healthcare givers to have competence, effective communication, continuity and compassion as they deliver healthcare services to patients to avoid being roped.
The paeditrician, who is the immediate past Chairman of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, urged hospital managements to anticipate that complaints should be made by patients and as well take proper actions, including the education of patients at admission in a practical way.
He called for team work among all cadre of the medical profession to give their patients quality healthcare delivery, urging them to start giving serious thoughts to the fact that those they give service to are becoming conscious of their entitlement to good quality care.
Earlier, in his opening remark, Dr Casmir Orjioke, Chairman of the event, said that there was need to have more public lectures as the first public lecture was held in 2009.
He also urged all healthcare givers to be ethically and academically disciplined so as not be involved in medico-legal issues.
In his welcome address, the Chief Medical Director, ESUTH, Prof. Hycinth Onah, said that over the last one year, the management had witnessed court cases, whereby, doctors were being sued, some cases ended up in courts and some at the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria.
Onah added that the number of court cases witnessed were more reason why the hospital management organised lectures based on medico-legal issues for the benefit of the public and the medical and health workers in particular.
The theme of the lecture is ‘Emerging Medico-Legal Issues in Current Health Care Delivery in Nigeria’ (NAN)
OJI/MST
Edited by Muhammad Suleiman Tola