Daily Independent (Lagos)
Stella Odueme And Funmi Falobi
12 January 2009
Mrs. Sarah Johnson sat beside her baby at the Children Ward of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja, with other parents whose children were receiving treatment.
They were being attended to by health practitioners in a very congested ward. And when Johnson would speak on the frustration of being crammed together in the ward to receive treatment, he said: "This is what we face here. The whole place is congested and the facilities are poor. Water supply is irregular while the toilet and bathroom are nothing to write home about. The nurses should be advised to pay attention to patients because we suffer neglect."
This is the scenario at the old children hospital where patients suffer neglect due to inadequate facilities. The existing facilities can no longer cater for the number of patients and this has given room to the congestion at the hospital as the existing facilities there are over-stretched while complaints of nurses not giving patients needed attention abound. And like what Johnson said, the toilet and bathroom are not a pleasant sight to behold; using them could even be contagious.
However, the story would soon change, as the state government has constructed a new Children Ward equipped with modern facilities that would cater for the health needs of the children, thus signifying a new dawn in maternal health care as well as in enhanced and accurate diagnosis and management. This new dawn will soon manifest after the commissioning of the ultra modern BT Paediatric/Family Medicine Complex and BT Health and Diagnostic Centre at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, (LASUTH), Ikeja.
The great revolution in various aspects of health sector was midwived by the erstwhile Bola Tinubu's administration, which commenced a massive developmental programme at LASUTH with a view to improving the overall provision of healthcare to a level commensurate with the status of a tertiary health institution of international repute on the one hand and also to ensure that LASUTH meets the accreditation requirements of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria in terms of infrastructure, equipment and human resources for the continued training of medical and dental students on the other.
Governor Babatunde Fashola said the commissioning of the centre was in line with the vision of the government on infrastructural renewal as not only befitting the status of mega city but also to cater for the residents.
"One of the benefits of continuity in Lagos State is the sustained implementation of this policy and the consolidation of the reputation of these institutions as the fastest growing tertiary health centres in the country. These facilities will further enhance the capacity of LASUTH to deliver on its mandate and improve the provision of health care delivery in the state in accordance with a key component of our 10-point agenda," he said.
According to him, the vision is to transform health care institutions into globally acclaimed centres of excellence in health care delivery as well as reputable citadels of medical research and learning at both undergraduate and post-graduate levels.
Fashola also highlighted some other projects that have been earmarked for execution by his administration. These include the construction and equipping of accident and infectious diseases complex at the Mainland General Hospital, upgrading of Gbagada General Hospital to the status of suitable annex for LASUTH and construction and equipping of Amuwo Odofin General Hospital with the provision of a 110-bed maternal and child health complex.
According to the Commissioner for Health, Dr Jide Idris, the two projects are part of the encompassing four-year infrastructural development plan for the state health sector as well as in line with the policy thrust of the government as outlined in its 10-point agenda, just as he stressed that the need to increase access of the populace to quality, efficient and adequate basic social services and infrastructure remains a focus of the administration.
He noted that the components of the initial phase of developmental projects executed at LASUTH included, amongst others, the remodelling/rehabilitation of the infrastructure of the clinics, emergency centre (LASEMS), male and female medical/surgical wards, theatre complex, Morbid Anatomy Department, Medical Research Centre and Dental Centre. Idris added that other components included the equipping and furnishing of the research, histopathology and multipurpose students' laboratories to enable consultants and resident doctors carry out research activities in their various specialties, thereby enhancing the position of the institution in the international academic community as well as allow students benefit from practical experimentation and facilitate appropriate processing of tissue samples to promote accurate diagnoses.
Idris posited that the BT Health and Diagnostic Centre would enhance accuracy in diagnosis and management of cases, thereby reducing the morbidity and mortality indices of the state, thus helping in conserving foreign exchange currently used by residents to seek these services outside the shores of the country.
He added that the enhanced hospital space that the new four-storey BT Paediatric/Family Medicine Complex represents will complement other child survival strategies to reduce infant and child morbidity/mortality in line with the Millennium Development Goals on health, stressing that even though landmarks of the past were celebrated and appreciated, government cannot afford to lose sight of the daunting tasks ahead particularly with regard to further improving the health indices of the residents.
The commissioner explained that the construction and equipping of the two-floor BT Health and Diagnostic Centre commenced in 2007 in recognition of the fact that modern medical practice places a huge premium on evidence of adequately and appropriately equipped radio-diagnostic and laboratory services in the prevention, early diagnosis and management of diseases, adding that the structure had been equipped with facilities that would improve diagnosis and management of communicable and non- communicable diseases in line with international best practices.
He said the Radio Diagnostic Complex comprised reception/waiting room; ultrasound room; general X-ray room; fluoroscopy room; barium kitchen; mammography room; dark room; light room; film reading room; CT scan room; Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) room; archive room; changing room; offices and store.
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