Patients, Relatives Groan As Cash Crunch Slows Down Treatment In UNIOSUNTH

LIFE has not been easy for pa ents and their rela ves at Osun State University Teaching Hospital, formerly known as LAUTECH.

Apart from the mental stress in ge ng their loved ones treated, relaves of pa ents at the hospital have also been going through difficul es in making payment for treatments and other medical needs, inves ga ons have revealed.

Though UNIOSUN had for over six years been opera ng cashless policy as payments were encouraged to be made through automated payment method, OSUN DEFENDER noted that the ongoing cash crunch has brought untold hardship to the rela ves of pa ents.

Also, poor internet service and networks of commercial banks have been frustra ng digital payment as well, a situaon that further put relaves of the pa ents under pressure.

Inves ga ons revealed that cashiers at the hospital have been occasionally demanding for cash payments from people who wanted to pay for either drug, test or other medical service.

Of all the payment centres in the hospital, only that of the pharmacy secon was consistent in automated payment through Point of Sales machine with Automated Teller Machine card.

But the centre, according to some of the people who spoke with OSUN DEFENDER, declined the POS/

ATM payment for hours on Monday because of poor internet service and the network of the banks.

Besides, a payment spot behind the Accident and Emergency Unit has always been demanding for cash payment, according to findings.

It was noted on Wednesday that the payment centre at Phlebotomy unit was accep ng both transfer and cash payment from people.

OSUN DEFENDER was at the centre on Wednesday morning and observed that the cashiers were more disposed to cash than transfer.

However, where transfer payment was made, it took about 15 minutes, depending on the bank’s service, to confirm the payment, a development that slows down treatment of the pa ents involved.

Speaking with the medium, Mr. Yemi Abolusodun, who had a rela ve admitted at the hospital, stated that he was asked to make payment with cash for the treatment of the person on sick bed on Monday.

Abolusodun claimed that the treatment was delayed ll he was able to get cash for the payment which took him about 18 hours.

He said: “There was a drug prescribed for us on Monday to get for the paent but we couldn’t buy it un l Tuesday a ernoon because they demanded for cash at the pharmacy. They told me the POS was not working, so they needed to collect cash. They did not accept transfer either.

“The doctors keep telling us that we were en- dangering the life of the pa ent because he ought to have started using the drug.

“I had to go to the town to look for where I could get cash. I was not able to get cash un l Tuesday and that was when the doctors started trea ng the person we brought in through emergency.

“Imagine a pa ent not able to use drug for 18 hours a er it has been recommended. That is what we have been facing here.”

Confirming the automated payment system, a pa ent Mr. Ilias M.A, told OSUN DEFENDER that he has always been making payment with his ATM card.

He however, noted that there were complaints from other pa ents about the failure of the automated payment which forced the officials to demand for cash.

For Mrs. Ilufoye who brought her dad for surgery at the hospital, the delay in the confirma on of transfer payment is not suitable for a person who requires urgent medical atten on on sickbed.

Ilufoye said she made payment for the surgery of her father through transfer, sta ng that she was asked to wait for about 30 minutes for the confirma on of the transac on.

According to her, she was told that the payment confirma on would come from Lagos.

Hajia Suliyat Olawale could not hide her feelings when speaking with OSUN DEFENDER on the cash crunch and the challenge of payment for treatment at the UNIOSUN teaching hospital.

Olawale who was full of emo on lamented that pa ents and their rela ves were going through hardship in ge ng payment done for treatment.

According to her, almost every point of payment in the hospital were demanding for cash pay- the banks, a development that have brought about discrepancies in the online and digital payment.

She said: “UNIOSUN teaching hospital has been running cashless policy before this me; we have not been encouraging cash payment. But the current situa on is that the internet service of some of these banks is poor, making it difficult to ini ate transac on or confirm payment. That is why we asked the pa ents or their rela ves to make cash payment. It is for the good of both sides.” ment because of the poor internet service.

She said the paucity of cash has resulted to delay in the treatment of their rela ves on sickbed, calling on government to make cash available to the general public.

Olawale said: “Making payment for treatment here is not easy at all. We are really suffering here. We couldn’t get our pa ents treated without cash.

“The network to transfer is not good and these people (cashiers) are no more accep ng transfer. What about people who do not even know internet banking system? This is wickedness and I just hope that the government will find something to do about it before it is too late. What if the person died in the course of finding cash to pay?”

However, one of the cahiers in the hospital admi ed that they were demanding for cash payment from either the pa ents or their rela ves.

According to her, the cash crunch has put more pressure on the networks of

OSUN DEFENDER noted that a popularly pharmacy at the hospital area have also stopped payment through the POS machine and ATM.

A endants at the pharmacy have been demanding for cash or transfer payment for drug or medical materials.

Asked why the pharmacy stopped the usage of POS machine for payment, one of the a endants who prayed not to be named said the service of majority of the banks have been declining payment.

She added that customers’ account would be debited for payment while the account of the pharmacy would not be credited.

“To avoid issues like this, we concluded in stopping the POS usage for payment and we encouraged our customers to pay with cash or transfer”, she submi ed.

Narra ng her ordeal, a middle-aged woman who iden fied herself as Omolabake, said she waited for 25 minutes before her payment could be confirmed.

She said: “I made payment of N8000 for drugs through my bank’s app, I was debited immediately but I was told the account of the pharmacy had not been credited, so I had to wait. I waited for 25 minutes before the payment was received.

“My husband was on the sick bed and the doctors needed to administer the drugs on him. I came to this pharmacy because the one inside (LAUTECH) UNIOSUN teaching hospital did not have the drugs. Besides, those people were also demanding for cash payment too. This scarcity of cash is adding pains to those of us in the hospital. Our pa ents are not being treated on me because of the delay in payment for drugs.”

Aside payment for treatments, OSUN DEFENDER noted that ge ng cash to pay for food and other li le things for the pa ents and the rela ves have become difficult for the people.

None of the ATM machine inside the hospital was dispensing cash as of the me the medium visited the galleries yesterday.

Also, the POS operators in the hospital do not have enough cash to give to people.

Like other Nigerians, the pa ents and their rela ves appealed to government to make cash available in the interest of their wellbeing.

Commen ng on the ma er, the Chairman Medical Advisory Council of the hospital, Dr. Babatunde Afolabi, said UNIOSUNTH is on Electronic Medical Records which means that everything about the hospital has been digitalised.

Babatunde a ributed the challenges being faced by the pa ents and their rela ves in payment for treatment and other medical services to poor internet service and banks’ server.

He said: “We are on Electronic Medical Records and that is the pla orm upon which all those things are generated and payment is made but as you know, technology will come with bo leneck.

“Those bo lenecks are things that we are trying to manage. We are meeting at different commi ee levels and the issue will be addressed as soon as possible.

“We are having a serious challenge. Somemes, the network will be down. We have the same problem in all the banks but here, we are trying to overcome the challenge.

“In fact, we are going out of possibly to managing both the electronic and manual so that if you cannot do electronic, you can con nue manual. Inially, we don’t want to do that but with the situa on of things, we need to do that”.

ALL praise is due to Allah, and may His peace and blessings be upon the final Messenger, His pure family, noble companions, and all those who follow them with righteousness un l the day of Judgment.

It is said in the olden days that ‘chose a friend before the road’, this refers to the importance of choosing the right friend, a loyal person, who does not betray, and does not harm his partner, and in Islam there are founda ons for choosing a friend, in accordance with Allah’s law.

JUMAT