Eromosele Ebhomele

Gbagada Hospital Cardiac Centre: Some Facilities have broken down

Health Committee members of the Lagos State House of Assembly were shocked  by the mess they encountered today at the Gbagada General Hospital in the metropolis.

First they found that the blood bank mixes screened and unscreened blood samples and also fails to separate blood samples that have tested positive for HIV from the ones that tested negative.

Second they found that some of  the so-called world class facilities at the hospital’s cardiac and renal centre  have broken down, less than a year after they were installed.

As an immediate measure,  the Assembly has ordered the closure of the blood bank, following the report of the committee members led by Segun Olulade. Incidentally, they were not the only people who saw the mess. They were  accompanied on the inspection by representatives of  the Health Facility Monitoring and Accreditation Agency (HEFEMAA).

Chairman of the Committee, Segun Olulade, who lamented the unhealthy situation at the blood bank unit, authorised the immediate sealing off of the blood bank due to the anomaly of screened and unscreened blood muddle observed by HEFEMAA team leader and Executive Secretary, Dr. Mabel Adjekughele.

Dr. Adjejughele had observed that the blood bank was in bad state, with screened and unscreened blood not separated, just as she observed that blood that have tested positive were also muddled with negative ones.

Noting that this negligence by those in charge of the blood bank poses danger to those who patronise the hospital, the HEFEMAA team leader advised that the blood bank be sealed pending when the place will be put in order.

When the committee  members visited the Cardiac and Renal Centre  of the hospital, they were told by the Director of the Centre, Prof. Babatunde Olabode Green  that some of the acquired world-class medical equipment are not functioning, either due to improper installations or poor quality of installation materials.

Prof. Green also blamed power supply for the failure to run the facility to its full capacity, just as he noted that the facility was commissioned and handed over to the Renescor Health in that condition.

In his response, Olulade stated that the committee will summon the contractors that handled the Cardiac and Renal Centre project; Ministry of Health officials, Public-Private Partnership, PPP, and all necessary Agencies to investigate the poor state of the centre.

This visit was the first embarked upon  by the Assembly’s health committee members  to have first-hand knowledge of the running of the hospitals in the state.