A distressing patient experience at Kanifing General Hospital, formerly Serekunda Hospital, has highlighted ongoing challenges in The Gambia’s public healthcare system, with allegations of bureaucratic inefficiencies and unprofessional conduct by staff. Mustapha Marenah shared his ordeal after seeking emergency care on August 28, 2025. He described hours of delays, inadequate processes, and confrontations with nurses that left him physically and emotionally drained.
Marenah recounted arriving at the hospital between 7:35 and 7:50 AM after falling ill during study leave for his ACCA exams. Directed to the emergency ward, a nurse immediately told him to buy a ticket and join the outpatient queue. “The first thing the nurse said was to go buy the ticket and follow the queue to see the doctor, like others,” Marenah said, despite his critical condition. After an hour in the queue, sympathetic patients allowed him to see a doctor, who sent him back to the emergency ward without a written prescription, citing that staff there would understand his urgent needs.
Back at the emergency ward, Marenah faced further resistance. The same nurse questioned the lack of documentation, and a male nurse insisted he return to the outpatient unit, dismissing pleas from Marenah’s wife and the female nurse to assist. “I understand his stance on processes, but this is my health,” Marenah said, frustration mounting after nearly two hours without treatment. The situation escalated when he confronted the male nurse, telling him to “shut up” and that he didn’t “own the place.” This led to security being called to forcibly remove him, though Marenah complied due to his worsening condition.
After multiple trips between departments, lab tests, and more queuing, Marenah finally received a drip around midday, hours after arriving. He noted inefficiencies in the drip administration, observing that another patient’s drip flowed faster despite being set up later. “I asked why mine was so slow, and the nurse said our sicknesses are different. I told him I don’t understand, but he just smiled,” Marenah recalled, visibly upset. Further complications arose when a trainee nurse struggled to remove his drip, causing blood to flow back into the tube until another patient alerted staff.
The ordeal continued at the pharmacy, where Marenah waited 30 minutes for the pharmacist, only to learn two of his five prescribed medications were unavailable. “I almost cried,” he said, noting his reliance on public hospitals due to skepticism about private facilities exploiting insurance schemes. Despite holding a health insurance card through his employer, Marenah’s experience underscores systemic issues like understaffing and resource shortages, as noted in reports on Gambia’s healthcare system.
Kanifing General Hospital, a key public facility in the populous Kanifing Municipality, has been praised for initiatives like the Safer Delivery Project. Yet, Marenah’s account reveals persistent gaps in emergency care delivery. Hospital officials have not responded to requests for comment.
