Patients receiving treatment at Kwara State University Teaching Hospital (KWASU Teaching Hospital) have accused some health workers of demanding between ₦1,000 and ₦5,000 for basic medical services, including retrieving medical files and providing examination gloves. A hospital official has blamed the alleged collections on inadequate government funding, raising questions about the Kwara State Government’s responsibility to equip and adequately finance the facility.
An investigative report by SaharaReporters has exposed allegations of multiple cash demands imposed on patients at the Kwara State University Teaching Hospital, raising concerns about transparency, hospital management and access to affordable healthcare in Kwara State.
According to accounts obtained from multiple patients and residents, some health workers allegedly demand between ₦2,000 and ₦5,000 to retrieve patients’ medical files, while those visiting for routine consultations are reportedly asked to pay ₦1,000 for examination gloves.
Patients seeking delivery services are also allegedly required to pay ₦5,000 for gloves.
One patient reportedly told SaharaReporters that even routine medical examinations attract additional payments.
“If you go for check up and you want the doctor to see you, you must pay N1,000 for gloves, used or not used,” the patient said.
Another resident acknowledged that the hospital has some of the best infrastructure among government-owned healthcare facilities he had visited but expressed disappointment over its management and service delivery.
“The hospital is one of the best government hospitals I have been to in a while in Nigeria. Facilities-wise, to be honest, the hospital is among the best. But what I am trying to tell you is that they are not managing this hospital as it should be managed,” he said.
Electronic Medical Records System Allegedly Stops Working
One of the major complaints highlighted in the SaharaReporters investigation concerns the alleged breakdown of the hospital’s electronic medical records system.
A resident told the publication that the facility previously operated a digital platform that allowed patients’ medical information to be stored and retrieved electronically.
However, he alleged that the system had stopped functioning, forcing patients to handle physical medical files themselves and, in some instances, pay workers to retrieve them.
He questioned why patients should be required to pay employees for duties that ordinarily fall within their official responsibilities.
“The patients are the ones handling their case files themselves. The person that is supposed to probably bring out the file for them will be requesting money. For what? People that are being paid salaries are now requesting money just to do their jobs,” he said.
The resident added that the hospital previously operated a paperless system for managing patients’ information.
He expressed concern that patients were now required to retrieve and carry physical files, questioning the maintenance and management of the hospital’s digital healthcare infrastructure.
Patients Raise Alarm Over Physiotherapy Charges
The allegations also extend to the hospital’s physiotherapy department, where patients reportedly face additional payments for treatment.
According to one resident who spoke to SaharaReporters, patients are required to pay an initial ₦7,500, followed by ₦2,000 for subsequent physiotherapy sessions.
He alleged that the payments were collected in cash without proper receipts or documentation.
“On getting to the physiotherapy department, you are supposed to pay ₦7,500. Then you pay ₦2,000 for the people that are supposed to carry out the physiotherapy on you. Subsequently, you’re supposed to be bringing ₦2,000 every day.
“There is no payment system. There is nothing. You just give them cash and no record, nothing at all,” he alleged.
The resident also questioned why patients should be required to pay separately for basic medical consumables, including examination gloves, in a government-owned hospital.
He appealed to Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq to investigate the situation, insisting that residents should have access to essential medical services without facing unexplained financial demands.
Other Patients Complain About Multiple Cash Demands
SaharaReporters also spoke with other residents who expressed concerns about additional payments allegedly demanded from patients after they had settled their official medical bills.
One resident said the situation was making healthcare increasingly difficult for ordinary people, particularly those already struggling financially.
Another patient described what he considered a pattern of separate payments for different services, often without clear explanations or evidence that the money was being remitted to the hospital.
The complaints have raised questions about whether the additional collections are part of an officially approved hospital revenue arrangement or payments allegedly demanded independently by individual workers.
Hospital Official Blames Lack of Government Funding
However, an official in the hospital’s administrative unit, who spoke to SaharaReporters anonymously because he was not authorised to speak publicly, defended the additional collections.
The official claimed that the Kwara State Government had stopped providing operational subventions to the hospital, leaving management to generate funds internally to sustain its daily activities.
According to him, although the government continues to pay workers’ salaries, it no longer provides the operational funding required to run the facility.
“The government is not giving the hospital any subvention to run its activities. The only thing the government is doing is paying the salaries of the workers,” the official said.
He further explained that the money collected internally was intended to support the hospital’s operations.
“The money we are charging internally is to help us run the activities of the hospital. The workers are trying to raise money for the hospital so that we can fund its activities,” he added.
However, the official reportedly did not provide details of the formal approval governing the collections, the applicable charges, the accounts into which the money is paid or the financial records used to monitor the revenue.
His explanation also leaves unanswered questions surrounding allegations that some workers collect cash directly from patients without issuing official receipts.
Is Kwara Government Failing to Adequately Fund and Equip the Hospital?
Beyond the allegations of unofficial cash collections, the revelations also raise a fundamental question about the Kwara State Government’s responsibility to adequately fund, equip and provide essential materials for its public healthcare facilities.
Could the alleged financial demands on patients be a consequence of the government’s failure to provide the hospital with sufficient medical consumables, equipment and operational materials required for effective service delivery?
If the hospital is indeed operating without government subventions, does this mean its management has been left to depend heavily on internally generated revenue to sustain basic services, potentially transferring the financial burden to patients who are already seeking medical assistance?
A government-owned teaching hospital should ordinarily have a transparent funding structure that guarantees the availability of essential medical supplies and equipment.
While allegations of unauthorised collections by individual workers must be investigated, the government must equally explain whether it is providing adequate financial support and essential materials to enable the hospital to discharge its responsibilities.
Ultimately, the situation raises several questions: Is this primarily a case of alleged financial misconduct by some health workers, inadequate government funding, poor hospital management or a combination of these factors?
The distinction is important because addressing only the alleged cash collections without examining the hospital’s funding structure may leave the underlying problems unresolved.
Kwara Health Commissioner Yet to Respond
In its investigation, SaharaReporters contacted the Kwara State Commissioner for Health, Dr Amina Ahmed El-Imam, seeking the government’s response to the allegations and clarification on the hospital’s funding arrangements.
The commissioner was asked whether the state government had stopped providing operational subventions to the facility, whether the additional patient charges were officially approved and what measures were in place to monitor internally generated revenue.
However, she had reportedly not responded to messages sent to her or answered repeated telephone calls as of the time the investigation was published.
The allegations have placed renewed attention on the management of public healthcare facilities in Kwara State, particularly the transparency of hospital charges, government funding and patients’ access to essential medical services.
Residents will be looking to the state government and hospital management for explanations, particularly on whether the alleged collections are authorised and what steps are being taken to ensure that patients receive appropriate medical attention without unexplained financial demands.
