NATIONAL HOSPITAL SERVICE CHARTER

DETAILS OF BUSINESS TRANSACTION

i. The National Hospital, Abuja was established by Decree 36 of 1999 (now an Act of National Assembly). The essential responsibilities are:

ii. To render services pr excellence in all fields of medicine.

iii. To provide facilities and conducive environment for the training and development of all medical cadres such as Doctors, Nurses, Pharmacists, Laboratory Scientists, etc.

iv. To encourage research designed to expand the frontiers of medical knowledge which are relevant to Nigeria and West Africa Sub-region.

v. To support primary and secondary healthcare.

Our main service points are:

• Accident and Emergency on 24 hours basis

• Intensive Care Unit to cater for serious medical and surgical cases.

• Opening Theatre Unit where a full range of minor and major operations are performed.

• Labour Ward/Theatres for deliveries and infant care facilities

• Paeditric and neonatal care services for sick children.

• Radio-Diagnostic services using ultra-modern X-Ray Machines, Mammography, CT Scan and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

• Haemodialysis services for patients with kidney malfunction

• Cancer treatment services using a Linear Accelerator and other equipment

• In-patient wards, private, semi private and open wards.

• Ambulance Services

• Family Planning and Reproductive Health Services

• Ear, Eye and Throat, ophthalmology and dental services

• Laboratory services in microbiology, haematology, morbid anatomy/histopathology and chemical pathology.

DETAILS OF CUSTOMERS (CLIENTS)

The Hospital’s customers include patients, their relatives, retainership organizations, other hospitals, non-governmental organizations, Friends of the National Hospital, research organizations and contractors/suppliers.

EXPECTATION OF PATIENTS

a) Patients expect prompt, comprehensive, efficient and safe effective health care delivery from the National Hospital

b) In the course of treatment, the patients expect courteous and polite service delivery by the Hospital staff.

c) Patients expect their personal security and that of their property in the Hospital

d) The patients expect that they are not denied adequate diagnoses and treatment even when they do not have the means to pay.

e) Patients expect to have access to this charter through periodic publications in at least two national dailies, handbills, display on the Hospital notice boards and in Public Relations Office.

PERFORMANCE TARGETS

• The target of the Hospital is to utilize its state-of –the-art facilities by the available human resources to deliver diagnostic and therapeutic tertiary health services of international standards to patients effectively at affordable costs.

• To ensure that the state-of-the-art facilities are well-maintained under the facilities management concept and maintenance culture of the Hospital.

• The accident and emergency cases are handled promptly by Accident/Emergency Unit which operates on 24 hours basis to treat emergency cases immediately they come into the Hospital.

• Non-emergency or cold cases are handled by other Clinical Department not later than two hours after arrival at the Hospital.

• Corporate patients under the Retainership Scheme of the hospital are treated promptly in all service points.

GRIEVANCE REDRESS MECHANISM

• A Principal Legal Officer is the Hospital’s Complaints Officer

• Front Desk Officers in Accident/Emergency and Administration Reception act as Complaints Desk Officers in addition to directing patients and their visitors to the various service points and locations.

• The Public Relations Unit is expected to enlighten the aggrieved patients and their relations on the in-built grievance redress mechanism in the Hospital.

• Suggestions/Complaints Boxes are installed at strategic points within the Hospital to enable complaints put forward their written complaints to the management. The entries in the boxes are collected on daily basis for further actions.

COMPENSATION IN THE EVENT OF SERVICE DELIVERY FAILURE

• The Hospital has put in place mechanisms for compensation in the event of failure of service delivery. The Hospital maintains the following insurances that address such issues amongst other insurances. These insurances are:

• Professional indemnity- this covers medical and health professionals made up of Doctors, Pharmacists, Laboratory Scientists, Nurses, Radiographers, Physiotherapists, etc.

• Public Liability- this covers liabilities suffered by patients or their relations or visitors to the Hospital as a result of a negligent act of the Hospital or its staff.

• Burglary/Theft Policy- patients to the Hospital who suffer loss of their property are compensated. However, all patients are expected to declare all valuables at the point of admission.

• Patients whose compensation cannot be met by aforementioned mechanisms have the option of seeking redress in the law court or channel their complaints to Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria or other professional regulatory bodies.

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR DELIVERY

The Chief Medical Director is responsible for the delivery of this Charter.