By Onyeanya Ebere Immaculata
Patients in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have lamented limited services at several general hospitals in Abuja, citing closed pharmacies, absent laboratory staff, and inadequate medical personnel, largely blamed on acute manpower shortages.
At Kubwa General Hospital, a patient, Rotimi Raheem, said pharmacies were locked and laboratory services unavailable, leaving patients unable to access drugs or conduct basic tests.
Similar complaints were reported at Wuse General Hospital, where Ibeto Onakwe said emergency units were poorly staffed, with few doctors attending to patients needing urgent care.
At Nyanya General Hospital, Idris Yahuri said patients could not access their medical records due to the absence of administrative officers.
Reacting, the President of the Association of Resident Doctors at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital (UATH), Adewale-Adeleye Premiere, attributed the situation to severe understaffing worsened by the mass exit of health workers from the country.
He said the number of resident doctors at UATH had dropped from about 500–600 to roughly 220, warning that without urgent government intervention, healthcare delivery in the FCT could deteriorate further.
