Hussaini Kafi in Kano
Healthcare delivery at the National Orthopaedic Hospital Dala, Kano has come to a near standstill as patients desert the facility following the warning strike declared by the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM).
Checks by Africa Health Report, AHR, on Thursday, being day 2 of the strike, revealed that dozens of patients, particularly those from outside Kano State, have vacated their hospital beds amid growing uncertainty over medical care.
“Most of them pleaded to be discharged so they could seek help elsewhere,” a hospital staff member who preferred anonymity told AHR. “The management is trying to attend to the few who couldn’t leave due to critical conditions.”
He called on the Federal Government to urgently intervene. “If nothing is done, the nurses may proceed on an indefinite strike, and more lives will be endangered,” he warned.
Efforts by our correspondent to reach the union leadership for comment were unsuccessful.
Meanwhile, the hospital’s once-busy wards and corridors now wear a deserted look, with limited staff movement and almost no patient activity, a grim reminder of the urgent need to resolve the crisis before more lives are put at risk.
