22nd May, 2021
By Kazeem Ugbodaga
The Health Facility Monitoring and Accreditation Agency, HEFAMAA, has sealed 10 health facilities across the state in the month of April 2021 for non-compliance.
The Executive Secretary of the Agency, Dr Abiola Idowu who disclosed this at the weekend in Alausa, Ikeja during a review of the activities of the Agency explained that the facilities were sealed for quackery, lack of qualified medical personnel, training of auxiliary nurses and non-registration.
She added that a total of 194 health facilities were monitored in the month under review.
She explained that the key criteria of the Agency’s monitoring and inspection activities centred on the qualification of the personnel, the operations and processes of the facility, its environment, standard of equipment as well as compliance to standards and quality of services rendered.
While advising owners and operators of health facilities to take cognizance of the criteria and carry out their operations in accordance with set standards, the Executive Secretary stated that all new or intending operators must register with the Agency through its website, hefamaa.lagosstate.gov.ng before commencing medical practice, adding that existing registered operators should ensure prompt renewal of their certificates to avoid being sanctioned.
She, however, called on members of the public to continue supporting and cooperating with the State government in its fight against quackery and illegal operation of facilities by reporting those behind such acts to the Agency to safeguard the health and well-being of the citizenry.
“I will advise Lagosians to be cautious and desist from patronizing uncertified service providers and if you suspect foul play or notice illegal operations in your community, do not hesitate to contact HEFAMAA for prompt action,” she stated.
She reaffirmed the commitment of the Agency in supporting the vision of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration to achieve accessible, affordable and quality healthcare to the residents of Lagos State.
On the performance of the Health Facility Inspection Tool (Health-FIT) currently in use for the assessment of health facilities for Quality Assurance in the State, the Executive Secretary revealed that the tool is performing well.
According to her, “over 120 health facilities were captured using the application in April alone.”
She stated that the Agency recently organized a one-day capacity building training for its Monitoring Staff to facilitate a clear understanding of the scoring methodology of the Health-FIT electronic tool.
According to the HEFAMAA boss, the training was aimed at enabling the Agency carry out the ranking of the various categories of health facilities based on their aggregate scores, give feedback to monitored health facilities on the sections in which they need to improve and as well organize training programmes for health facility owners in areas/sections where they score low.
The programme, which was held at the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Alausa, Ikeja was well attended with presentations delivered on the Overview of the Health-FIT Tool by Dr. Daniel Olayinka; Head, Monitoring, HEFAMAA and also on Scoring Methodology and Ranking of Health Facilities by Dr. Ademola Serrano of Pharm Access Foundation.