12th January, 2016
Eromosele Ebhomele
The Lagos State House of Assembly has ordered the closure of the blood bank section of the Gbagada General Hospital.
The directive came through the House Committee on Health Services following what the committee said was part of its vow to bring effective medical service delivery to residents of the state.
The committee, which was accompanied by the Health Facility Monitoring and Accreditation Agency (HEFEMAA), took this action after discovering some unethical procedures during an inspection exercise of the hospital.
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 act of 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.
The committee also visited the Cardiac and Renal Centre also located in Gbagada General Hospital, where the Director of the Centre, Prof. Babatunde Olabode Green told the committee 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 as part of the proposed tour of all General Hospitals in the state by the Assembly’s health committee to have first-hand knowledge of the running of the sector.