Tired Doctors, Frustrated Students: Inside the Waiting Crisis at Jaja Clinic
Agnes Oyedokun
Jaja has been a topic of growing concern among students. Despite being a critical resource for healthcare, it has faced numerous complaints regarding long wait times and unnecessary delays. These issues have not only caused frustration but have also led to concerns about the adequacy of medical care available on campus. The clinic’s challenges highlight a pressing need for improvement to ensure that the health and well-being of the campus community are not compromised.
Long wait times, unavailability of doctors, and instances of doctors refusing to see patients due to fatigue have become common grievances. These issues have led to growing frustration among the students, who have to rely on the clinic for their urgent medical needs.
*Kelani, a penultimate year student complained that, “My headache started on Saturday and continued on Sunday so I began to get worried. On Monday morning, it continued and I was getting dizzy alongside it so I decided to go very early before it became worse and affected other things. I got to Jaja and the nurses and doctor on night duty just left, the ones for the morning duty were yet to resume. I was the fifth person around that morning and we were waiting. When the head nurse arrived, we were asked to move outside and she started one orientation like that, it was as if I was in the secondary school assembly ground, because it got to a point she was telling us to do some exercises she was displaying for us and even clapping,” said Kelani.
He continued: “Then we checked our temp and BP, moved inside and had to wait for us to be called in to see the doctor, we waited for about an hour there. The first doctor that the six of ours that came first were assigned to said he hasn’t seen our details online that we should go back, we spent close to 30 minutes parading about until we were finally allocated to another doctor around 12 noon.
Then some elderly ones cheated me again. I saw the doctor around 12:30 and she asked me to go for a lab test. I did the test and was asked to go back to the doctor by 2pm, the result will be out. The result wasn’t out till past 4pm, we were told the machine had a fault. After the test, the first doctor had gone and we were assigned to another doctor, a long wait and I finally got to see the other doctor around 5pm. Thank God I went in at that time cause he said he’s about to leave too, it’s long past his closing hour.
At the end of the day I was given a prescription and I met the wonderful kind pharmacist who made my stay there beautiful. The officials on morning duty met me there and left me there, it was a really bad day.”
One of the most significant problems students face is the long and sometimes unnecessary delays in receiving medical attention at Jaja. Students report waiting hours to see a doctor, even for relatively minor ailments. This not only affects their health but also disrupts their academic schedules. “I had to wait for nearly three hours just to get a prescription for catarrh,” said *Joy, a second-year student. Such delays can exacerbate health conditions, turning what might have been a simple visit into a prolonged ordeal.
Peter, a final year student said, “ Imagine I got to Jaja Clinic by 1:50pm. I left the premises by 7pm. It was quite disheartening how the quickness to attend to indisposed students are treated with levity. It was my first time visiting, and I discovered that the record system has been digitized. Nevertheless, I didn’t see any expedited process to the new technological approach. From my observation, I noticed some very disappointing things. I was assigned to a doctor in room 2. Guess what? There was a man, presumably a member of academic staff or some with a bit of influence who was with the other doctor for over 2 hours.
I didn’t add that while waiting, one medical staff held a lady by the hand and bypassed the sitting line of people who had spent most hours taking the lady to the front. Also, with the digitized approach, the doctors should communicate exactly what is wrong. Personally, after the diagnosis, I was not told what ailment I had or the result of the blood test conducted that was transferred to the doctor. The only instruction was just to meet the pharmacist at the pharmacy who gave me some drugs with instructions.
This left me guessing what I was being treated for. This was not only me but a lady complained of something similar too. The health centre needs to do design a fast system to respond to students or patients’ needs.”
Adding to the frustration is the frequent unavailability of doctors. There have been numerous instances where students arrive at the clinic only to find that no doctors are available. This lack of consistent medical staff has raised concerns about the clinic’s ability to provide reliable care. “It’s very annoying to be sick and then find out there’s no doctor to see you,” complained Peace, a third-year student. The uncertainty surrounding whether a doctor will be present further compounds students’ anxiety and frustration.
Ola Samuel, a third-year student said that, “I was sick recently. I was feeling very bad so I could not go outside school to get treated. Since my 100 level days, I never went to Jaja for my health issues because I know they waste people’s time and they have a slow response to health issues or emergencies. I have had to take one of my course mates there and I had to shout on top of my voice for them to attend to him. If not because I told them that I would make sure to call them out on popular media papers if anything happened to the guy, they would not have attended to him. Normally, I would not have settled for Jaja but it was late, I was very weak and the pharmacies would have closed. I got there around 7pm, wrote my card number for my file to be checked. I met about five other people there. I was not called until after 8pm and I was told to check my vitals which was done after five minutes and after that, I was told to sit across the doctor’s office. I later realized that there was only one doctor around. Together with the other five people, we waited for more than two hours. I later stood up to explain to the porter, stable. I asked him if it is the case that a student develops a crisis or a health issue at night that is not as critical as what they term as emergency, should such student wait till the next day and suffer more unpredictable health loss or better just opt for private healthcare centres off campus? He said the weekend nights are for emergencies and that he could see that I was still very stable. I asked if the person has to go outside school for healthcare if it is not critical as what they term as emergency.
Around 10:55pm, I met with the doctor, asked about the symptoms. He asked me to go to the pharmacist to get the prescribed drugs. I was really sad and disappointed. It doesn’t speak well that the health centre for students would make me wait for more than three hours only to give me malaria drugs and paracetamol. I went back to the doctor to tell him that they are not working well and there is no point in delaying people over cheap drugs. Some of my friends told me that for them to answer you on time, you’ll have to roll on the floor. I don’t understand why you’ll have to be dramatic in a health centre before they respond to you. There is no rationality in saying that you can only attend to emergencies. Definitely, I would not go to the clinic to play if I were not sick. I always tell people that if they are very sick and they have something to do with their lives, they should not go to Jaja, they should go to other places if they have alternatives.”
The issue of doctors expressing fatigue and refusing to attend to patients is also a serious concern. While it is understandable that they are humans and can become exhausted, the primary purpose of the clinic is to provide care to students. “There have been times when I’ve heard doctors telling the porters that they were no longer interested in attending to any patient for the day,” said Tolu, a final-year student. This situation is unacceptable, especially in a setting where students depend on the clinic for immediate medical attention.
An administrative staff at the Jaja Clinic who spoke under anonymity said that the university health center is grossly understaffed. He faulted the “Japa Syndrome” as the reason for the doctor’s exodus from the University. “Contrary to the WHO recommended 1:600 doctor to patients ratio, what is obtainable here is far lower because the doctors are leaving,” he said.
“We have seen cases of 5 doctors leaving in a month because they see better offers abroad.”
One potential solution to these problems might be to increase the number of doctors at the clinic. By hiring more medical staff, the workload can be distributed more evenly, reducing the chances of doctor fatigue and ensuring that students receive timely care. This would not only improve the quality of care but also restore confidence in the clinic’s ability to meet students’ needs.
While addressing the shortage of doctors is crucial, it is equally important to consider the well-being of the medical staff. Implementing measures such as regular breaks, manageable working hours, can help mitigate burnout and fatigue. A balanced approach that values both the health of the doctors and the patients they serve is essential for creating a sustainable and effective healthcare environment.
Furthermore, the administration should consider implementing a more efficient appointment system to manage the flow of patients. A streamlined process could significantly reduce wait times and ensure that students receive care promptly. The current online method of Such a system would help prioritize cases based on urgency and ensure that all students get the attention they need without unnecessary delays.
The issues plaguing the school clinic are doubled, affecting both patients and healthcare providers. Long wait times, unavailable doctors, and medical staff burnout are critical problems that need urgent attention. By increasing the number of doctors and implementing supportive measures for existing staff, the clinic can improve its services and ensure that the health needs of the campus community are adequately met. It is imperative that the administration takes steps to restore confidence in the clinic and uphold the standard of care that students deserve.
Editor’s Note: Names marked with an asterisk (*) have been changed for anonymity purposes.
