Similarity And Difference Between Clinic And Hospital In Nigeria

Hosptal and clinic

A friend of mine was fortunate to run his clerkship programme in different hospitals. Along the line, it was observed that one of the hospitals was using the name ‘clinic’ which was bigger than the one with the name hospital. Therefore, this led to curiosity among all.

Both hospitals and clinics must be registered with Corporate Affairs Commission (C.A.C) and Federal Ministry of Health (F.M.H) before the operation. To be approved, one must meet some stringent conditions. The conditions of approval of clinic are quite different from that of a hospital. It is however very common to expect the structure of hospital to be bigger. It is not always true.

Hospital

Hospitals are institutions of health care that specialize in different fields of medicine and surgical treatment. They have many departments e.g. Maternity, out patients, accident and emergency, cardiology etc.

Read Also: The Process Of Obtaining Treatment In A Nigerian Government Hospital

There are different types of hospitals. Some provide just care in an aspect of health while some others are more general in nature. They operate 24/7, have many rooms and beds for patients. Some other departments are mortuary in cases of death.

A hospital is well equipped and staffed to treat serious situations. they provide Secondary and tertiary health care services (S.H.C and T.H.C). Staffs are mainly specialist.

When To Visit A Hospital

• Serious accident
• Serious trauma
• Chest pain
• etc

Clinic

On the other hand, clinics are places where patients can see a health care provider for a short visit. There are about four types of a clinic, which are retail based, free clinic, specialist and general. The departments they have are few. They provide more general care with some few exceptions like eye clinic, physiotherapists, psychologists, etc.

Read Also: Common Hospital Staffs And Their Roles In A Nigerian Hospital

Clinics do not operate 24/7. In addition, there are no rooms or beds for patients stay. The bed is for examination. They do not handle emergencies, as most of them do not have an ambulance.
Clinics provide Primary Health Care (P.H.C) services only. They treat minor cases of diseases such as flu and cold, malaria, etc. staffs are few with maybe one medical doctor or specialist. The medical doctor in a clinic comes in and attend to all the patients waiting.

Some hospitals have mini clinics within them providing some sought of services such out patient care. A good example is the out patient department in most central hospitals.

When To Visit A Clinic

• When feeling slight signs and symptoms
• Minor accident

Let us go back to the story that led to this post. The most health care centre starts off as a clinic. As they grow, some apply for a change of status. However, not all do change their display name on their signboard to indicate this change. The reason while most do not change is they risk losing the previous name to another competitor which can mean to lose of patients under their care.

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