Hospitals Demanding Police Report to Face Sanction

Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has threatened to clamp down on hospitals demanding police report from patients.

FCCPC’s Executive Vice Chairman, Babatunde Irukera, however, noted that such incidents had reduced since 2018 due to advocacy and accountability.

Irukere said there was no other way to perfect society other than accountability, consequences and advocacy.

The agency chief spoke yesterday at an interaction  between FCCPC and Federal Medical Centre (FMC) at Jabi in Abuja.

He said: “With respect to the use of police report before victims can be treated, I can say that between 2018 and now, such incidents have gone down because of the advocacy and accountability system.

“Our first investigation was that of a girl stabbed in the neck and taken to a hospital where the question of police report, since she was a victim of a crime, arose and became a case for investigation. Many don’t want it to happen again because of the publicity associated with it.

“What we ask is that each time it happens, we are notified and we would do our advocacy and hold everyone accountable.

“There are mechanisms to mitigate issues or challenges that could escalate quickly. So, we are holding people accountable.

“There’s no other way to perfect society other than these three things: accountability, consequences, and advocacy. When somebody faces the consequence for doing something wrong, others wouldn’t want to get into that situation.”

Lead Consultant at Ace Associates, Folar Onirinwa, noted that strengthening the Patient’s Bill of Rights across the country leads to talks about the patient-centred care.

He said this is because the importance of healthcare is the satisfaction that patients derive from the care they get.