I Felt Powerless, Helpless – Doctor Who Abandoned Nigeria For UK Laments Exploitation, Tough Condition

Those who left the shore of Nigeria for greener pastures in the United Kingdom have begun to see the reality that the land seems not to be as green over there as perceived from here in Nigeria.

Some medical doctors who abandoned their jobs in Nigeria and traveled to the UK for better paid jobs are now lamenting bitterly about the working condition they are subjected to over there.

In an investigation carried out by the BBC and widely reported by credible Nigerian dailies, it was revealed that several Nigerian doctors are currently trapped with their employers in the foreign land and are seriously lamenting what they are facing.

One of the doctors, Augustin Enekwechi described the situation as terrible. The young medic who worked at the private Nuffield Health Leeds Hospital reportedly said he felt like being in “a prison”.

He said his hours were extreme on-call 24 hours a day for a week at a time and that he was unable to leave the hospital grounds.

 He noted that the tiredness was so intense that there were times he worried he could not function properly.

” I knew that working tired puts the patients at risk and also put myself at risk as well for litigation. I felt helpless, powerless, you know constant stress and thinking at times could go wrong.” He said.

Two months ago, the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) said out of the about 80,000 registered with the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) from 1960, only 30,000 medical doctors were currently practising in Nigeria.

The NMA also revealed that Nigeria currently has a doctor-to-patient ratio of one doctor to 4000-5000 patients instead of the one doctor to 600 patient ratio recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO).