Reported Death of 3 Medical Doctors in a Hospital in Lagos State within 5 Days! A Call for Investigation

The death of three medical doctors of the same cadre and in the same hospital of the same State within an interval of 5 days stretches the phenomenon of happenstance. This is a relatively massive loss in a context with a staggering patient-to-doctor ratio. It is also frightening for colleagues who work in the same environment. The devastating impact on the families and loved ones of the deceased colleagues can only be imagined.

Doctors in Nigeria have complained of the heavy burden of rendering care to patients in an environment with an acute shortage of healthcare workers, crushing insecurity (with some medical doctors still in the captivity of kidnappers across different parts of the country), crushing economic impact with high inflation and stagnant remunerations, and a toxic work environment with unhealthy inter- and intra-professional rivalries and relationships that make going to work a daily survival, coupled with a lack of amenities and an unsafe workplace. Recently, many doctors have quit their services and are relocating to other parts of the world, mainly to escape the unrelenting insecurity, comparatively poor remuneration, and lack of job satisfaction. The death of three senior doctors in one hospital within five days has only worsened the statistics in that setting and, understandably, created fear in the minds of colleagues and the entire community.

The relevant authorities in Lagos State should give these tragic incidents the seriousness they deserve. There are already some agitations among the colleagues of these doctors about the apparent lack of urgency in addressing the dire situation and grave concerns about health and safety at the workplace. The matter should not be dismissed as a coincidence. The management of the hospital is expected to have commenced some investigation to understand what common thread might have run through these deaths in such a remarkably short period of time. The medical association must not relent in ensuring that the facts of these incidents are evident, in preventing similar deaths, or in better managing either communicable or non-communicable diseases that may be in the background of these deaths. Furthermore, the bereaved families deserve answers they may require about the cause and circumstances of death.