Relatives of patients admitted to hospitals across Nigeria are enduring harsh realities as they care for their loved ones. With no accommodation provided for them, many spend sleepless nights in unsafe and unhealthy conditions.
A Professor of Public Health stated that caregivers or relatives have a lot of roles to play in the care of admitted patients, especially in public hospitals.
He explained that their presence was necessary because they perform tasks that require constant movement around the hospital on behalf of their patients.
The don noted that the need for patient relatives in hospitals has grown largely “due to the failure of public health facilities’ service. There is a massive shortage of hospital staff who are supposed to perform these roles, particularly in public hospitals. This is hardly the case in big private hospitals.”
In a study on informal caregivers in Nigerian hospitals, family relatives and friends of hospitalised patients, known as informal caregivers, have become an essential but invisible workforce, filling huge gaps created by staff shortages and service inefficiencies.
The study reveals that these caregivers face severe health and well-being challenges, often worsened by the conditions under which they are forced to stay.
“Many sleep in corridors, open spaces and other makeshift spots because hospitals provide no accommodation. As a result, they report stress, weakness, pain, sleeplessness, poor feeding, mental strain, and a heightened risk of infections. The environment itself exposes them to harsh weather, foul odours, and unsafe toilets, with limited access to water or hygiene facilities,” it revealed.
About the Author
