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Health News of Thursday, 8 April 2021

Source: thenationonlineng.net

Lagos closes 12 health facilities in two months

The Health Facility Monitoring and Accreditation Agency (HEFAMAA) said it has sealed 12 health facilities in Lagos between January and February this year.

The Executive Secretary of the agency, Dr Abiola Idowu, who disclosed this in her office in Ikeja during a review of the activities of the agency, explained that HEFAMAA decided to close the facilities including hospitals, clinics, laboratories and nursing homes spread across various local government areas of the state.

She listed offences committed by the shut facilities ranging from inadequate basic equipment, working without required qualifications, operating without licences to training of auxiliary nurses and practising beyond schedule.

Dr Idowu warned that the agency will continue to do its best in supporting the state government against any form of illegal health practices, urging health facility operators across the state to abide strictly with the set standards to avoid sanction.

She advised new facilities to register with the agency before commencing operations to protect the health of the people, adding that operators of existing registered facilities should ensure prompt renewal of their certificate to avoid sanction.

Dr Idowu urged the public to continue supporting the government in its fight against quackery and operation of illegal health facilities by reporting people behind such acts to the agency to safeguard the health and well-being of the citizens.

Answering questions on the criteria considered by the agency during inspection and monitoring of health facilities in the state, she said qualification of the personnel, operations and processes of the facility, its environment and standard of equipment as well as compliance to standards and quality of services rendered are the key ingredients of the agency’s monitoring and inspection activities.

She reiterated that any facility that operates without a licence is doing so illegally and contravening the law of the state.