Reddington denies rejecting gunshot victims

The management of Reddington Hospital has said it doesn’t demand police report or any other report before attending to gunshot victims in any of its hospitals capable of handling such cases.

In a statement released in Lagos, Group Medical Director of the hospital, Dr. Olatunde Lalude, said the hospital was established primarily to save life and provide health to those in need, adding that it would be against the objectives of the founders to reject any patient except where the hospital feels that such case would be better handled elsewhere and would be appropriately referred.

The statement came on the heels of a news report credited to The Punch that a gunshot victim was rejected at its Ikeja branch, leading to the victim’s death. While commiserating with the family of the deceased, Lalude said investigation carried out by the hospital showed that the victim could not be attended to because the branch did not have capacity in terms of personnel and equipment to attend to such a case.

“When he arrived at the hospital, the situation was quickly assessed by the doctor on duty, with him in the car, where it was determined that he had been shot in the chest and was unresponsive. It was decided immediately that we would be unable to care for him at the Reddington facility in Ikeja, in view of the obvious need for advanced surgical services such as cardiothoracic surgery and intensive/critical care, which are not available at that branch.

The Ikeja branch does not have the facility and expertise to handle such cases; hence the immediate need to refer to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital nearby.“With regard to the issue of police report, we would like to clarify that this is not a criterion for accessing treatment in an emergency at any of our facilities equipped to manage gunshot injuries. Where appropriate, we offer immediate and responsive care to any gunshot victim without any need for a monetary deposit or other conditions to be fulfilled before treatment. As a matter of fact, at our Victoria Island main office we have treated many gunshot victims without demanding for a police report in the recent past, including police officers. However, our Ikeja branch is not equipped to handle this type of incident.”

He assured the public that the hospital is fully compliant with regulations on treatment of gunshot victims and “takes very seriously our responsibilities as a pillar of healthcare provision in our community.”