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From Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
Uneasy calm now pervades the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Oyo State, over a controversial N1,000 utility bill meant to be paid daily by patients accessing medical care in the facility.
But the bill could not see the light of day. The plan was leaked to the press by a member of staff privy to the internal memo meant to kickstart the implementation of the bill.
The internal memo, as gathered, was circulated on Monday, June 21, 2022. The memo, entitled “Approval for the Recommendation to Add Utility Fee to the Service Fee Charged to Patients in the Hospital,” was signed by Wole Oyeyemi, the UCH administrator, on behalf of the chairman, Medical Advisory Committee, and chief medical director. It was addressed to the director/head, finance and accounts department of the hospital.
The memo said: “Following the recurring power outage in the hospital, high cost of electricity tariff and inflation in the price of diesel, which have impeded stable power supply, management has decided to consider measures that can help to facilitate flawless service delivery in the hospital.
“To this end, I write to convey the management’s approval for the mandatory payment of utility fee of N1,000.00 (one thousand naira only) daily by every patient accessing care in this hospital. You are requested to kindly implement the approval with immediate effect.”
Though the management of UCH had not begun implementation of the bill at the time the memo was leaked, it was a turbulent time for them. Patients and many concerned individuals and groups criticised the UCH management heavily on the policy. They said the N1,000 bill would solely be for electricity, in spite of the position of the hospital that it was meant for utility, which should cover electricity, water and others.
The teaching hospital’s management was called names. Critics said the management of the hospital was insensitive, especially in this period of harsh economy. The position of the management that the policy was at a discussion stage and that final decision had not been taken on the implementation of the bill fell on deaf ears.
Some people who brought their loved ones to the hospital spoke to Daily Sun on the upward review of the utility bill that was not implemented. But it was a sort of mixed feelings. The majority rejected the upward review, while a few said they would not mind to sacrifice N1,000 per day for their loved ones to have access to electricity and running water, while receivng medical care in the teaching hospital.
When Daily Sun met the head of public relations of UCH, Mr. Toye Akinrinlola, on the development, described the story that trended in the media that the authorities of the federal teaching hospital had introduced daily payment of N1,000 electricity bill per patient as fake news.
The UCH management, according to him, had not imposed N1,000 electricity bill on each patient in the facility per day, though the hospital was spending about N20 million monthly of recent on diesel to power critical areas such as the labour ward and theatres, accident and emergency unit, intensive care unit and so on, while about N60 million also went to the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Companies (IBEDC) monthly for power supply that was not constant.
He said: “There is no truth in it. The management has not said they would charge N1,000 electricity bill per patient per day,” adding that what the hospital looked at was a review of its utility bills. He stated further that “when you talk about utility, you’ll talk of water, you will talk of power. All these things are on the increase every day.”
The management, he said, planned that, for the hospital to be able to serve the public more efficiently, there has to be a slight increase in the amount paid for these services. He added that, already, “there are some service charges being paid by patients that come to UCH. And we are all aware that things are getting costlier every day.”
Akinrinlola stated that the memo that was referred to was an internal memo. He said how it got out was an issue, which the management would tackle.
“I can assure that we have not started implementing it, and it is not tagged electricity bill. It may be an error on the part of the person who saw it or it is a misinterpretation of policy. UCH has not started doing such a thing. There are also many services that we render.
“But in actual sense, we have a lot of challenges too. UCH is in the society. For instance, we pay between N57 million and N60 milion every month for electricity that is not constant. Then, for us to keep our critical areas operational, we use diesel. There is no month in the recent time, especially since the price of diesel skyrocketed, that we spend less than N20 million on diesel. If you add that up, you will know what that will be.
“And we have not increased our tariffs to be commensurate with these increases. Diesel was at a point N300. Now it is almost N850. So, you can see the percentage. Now, the UCH has not thought of increasing its tariffs because we all know that the patients that come here are also from the same society that we live in.
“So, UCH, being a government hospital, we don’t reject patients. We don’t have the right to reject patients. We must attend to them. Some will be well and pay for their treatment, while, for some, the hospital covers their bills. All these are all we do to keep health care delivery active.”
When asked to mention the amount that UCH has been receiving as subvention from the Federal Government monthly, Akinrinlola simply said that it was government policy and that he was not in the account department to know that amount.
However, one of the leaders of a workers’ association in the hospital revealed that the facility has been getting N70 million. He said: “We are receiving N70 million monthly from the government. The money is not even enough for a teaching hospital of UCH’s status.
“Also, policemen and personnel of Federal Road Safety Corps would rush accident victims to this hospital and we must treat them. This hospital takes responsibility for settlement of the bills of the majority of them. Then the money being paid by patients goes to the Treasury Single Account (TSA). I have also read how people have been portraying the management of this hospital in bad light over this. It is not fair. On a number of occasions, the IBEDC has come to disconnect power supply to this hospital.
“What is bad if the Federal Government is responsible for the payment of electricity bills for its hospitals? This will go a long way in making the health care delivery system more active. There are some critical areas that must be on generators 24 hours per day. The situation has got to the level that the hospital now buys diesel in kegs to power the giant generators.
“Our association has met with the management on this and when we saw what is on the table, and the current societal realities, the slight upward review of the utility bill is inevitable.”
Amidst the raging controversy, a philanthropist, Lanre Laoshe, promised to donate 1,000 litres of diesel to the teaching hospital, which he has fufilled.
Akinrinlola said Laoshe made a phone call to the hospital from his residence in Lagos to sympathize with UCH over the current power problem being faced by the hospital.
Laoshe, however, fulfilled the promise by 5pm of the same day, July 4. The promised diesel, the spokesperson of UCH said, was delivered to the hospital.
Some days later, a statement signed by the hospital’s Director of Administration, S. O. Oladejo, on behalf of the Chief Medical Director also surfaced.
The statement read in part: “The attention of the management of the University College Hospital, Ibadan has been drawn to a publication in all sections of the media alleging that the Hospital is charging N1,000.00 per patient daily for electricity.
The hospital wishes to state that the memo being referred to was an internal memo, which we did not implement after a thorough review from internal mechanisms for such issues and has since been withdrawn. At no point did the hospital charge electricity fee.
“The management of the hospital is not oblivious of the fact that the said publication could have negative effect on our patients. We are assuring the public that we shall continue to deliver effective and efficient healthcare to Nigerians irrespective of status.
“It is also important to state that the University College Hospital, Ibadan does not turn back patients and that on several occasions had written off bills incurred by Indigent patients.
“We appeal to the public to ignore the said publication. Our doors are always open for people to cross check our activities.”
Sources within the management and various associations and unions in the hospital said the patients would have to face the reality of situations in the hospital as they come, based on available resources
