Pharmacist and healthcare analyst Pharm. Judith Ngozi Udeh, Principal Manager, Marketing, Geneith Pharmaceuticals Limited, has decried the growing loss of empathy and compassion among healthcare professionals, warning that the trend is eroding patient confidence and worsening outcomes.
Speaking on her health podcast, Udeh shared a recent hospital experience that left her “emotionally broken,” lamenting that many patients now leave hospitals more distressed than when they arrived — not from sickness, but from the insensitivity of caregivers.
“I’m baffled by what is happening in this country,” she said.
“A patient walks into a hospital and gets battered — not by illness, but by words and attitude. Where is our empathy? What happened to sympathy?”
She recounted how, after paying ₦60,000 to consult a specialist over persistent migraines, she was dismissed and mocked as imagining her illness. “If I didn’t know better, I would have left that hospital depressed,” she said, stressing that healthcare providers are called to heal, not destroy.
Udeh reminded professionals that every caregiver — doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and others — took an oath to protect life, adding that “our words can heal or destroy.” She urged practitioners to separate personal frustrations from their duty of care and to show kindness, noting that “no one goes to hospital for fun.”
As part of her advocacy, she announced that she has assembled a team of professionals for an upcoming health panel titled “When Seeking Medical Help Becomes Another Source of Pain: Restoring Empathy and Humanity in Healthcare Practice.”
According to her, the planning committee is already at work, and the session will explore the growing “empathy gap” in healthcare and how to rebuild a culture of compassion, respect, and patient-centred care. “Healthcare is meant to heal, comfort, and restore hope — not cause more pain,” she said. “This is a call to all healthcare providers: let’s make our patients feel heard, valued, and cared for. May God help us — and may Nigeria heal.”
