Striving Toward Excellence

Governor Raji Fashola of Lagos State, on 6 January 2009, commissioned the Bola Tinubu Health and Diagnostic as well as Paediatric centres at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, LASUTH, Ikeja. These were part of what Governor Fashola, in his address at the occasion, called a “grand vision to transform health institutions in the state into globally acclaimed centres of excellence in healthcare delivery, as well as reputable citadels of medical research and learning at undergraduate and postgraduate levels”. Another health institution that can help would be the aa north jersey. The other institution he referred to is the Lagos State University College of Medicine, LASUCOM.

Construction and equipping of the Diagnostic Centre started in 2007 to, according to the government, align it with the current global trend that places a huge premium “on evidence from adequately and appropriately equipped radio-diagnostic and laboratory services in the prevention, early diagnosis and management of diseases”.

The centre has state-of-the-art facilities. The radio diagnostic equipment on the ground floor will provide access to imaging techniques for about 100 patients daily. This is expected to lead to a reduction in overseas referrals. The complex comprises: reception/waiting room, ultrasound and general X-ray facilities, fluoroscopy, mammography, dark, light, film reading, CT scan, MRI , archie, changing rooms, barium kitchen, offices and store. The first floor accommodates a waiting lounge, reception/medical records unit, four consulting rooms, and examination rooms for executive screening. These are equipped with multi-channel machines, complete with what doctors referred to as treadmill stress test software and accessories, spirometer, vision screener, audiometer, mini-sound shelter and others.

The right wing of this same floor contains an integrated laboratory that will provide services in automated haematology, chemistry analysis, immunoassay and blood banking. The high level of automation provided, according the the Lagos State Ministry of Health, “would enhance the precision of laboratory results and the processing of 1,000 to 1,500 samples daily with a capacity to process higher volume when the need arises”.

The four-storey Bola Tinubu, BT, Paediatric complex, the construction of which began in 2006, is designed to contain the family medicine and paediatric out-patient departments. The ground floor is split into two, with the family medicine department in the front and the paediatric department at the back. Each of these has five clinics with reception/waiting area, nurses’ station, nurses’ room, sister’s office, treatment/medication preparation room and store. They are divided by and share a common pharmacy/dispensary and sub-waiting area. There is also a pharmacist’s office and pharmacy store. A patient holding area is constructed on each side of the building as the main waiting area to serve both clinics.

For the last three floors, there are identical two large cubicles, one of 16 beds and a second of 20 cots, with en-suite toilet/bathroom facilities; with two doctors’ call rooms on the first, second and third floors. Each cubicle is divided into two smaller ones of eight beds or 10 cots each, overseen by a nursing station, for “close patient monitoring”. The open plan has provision for 48 beds and 60 cots for the whole complex.

Other facilities are: suction machines, oxygen therapy equipment, ventilators, defibrillators and nebulisers for critical patient care, utoclaves, sluice units and bedpan disinfectors/washers for what LASUTH called “proper sterilisation techniques and barrier nursing”.Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who praised Fashola as a “SAN with a sound mind”, narrated how the project was conceived about 10 years ago. He revealed that the area on which the centres are built was filthy, with dilapidated structures and bad equipment. He acknowledged that there were pressures from patients from other states and said that Lagos could not turn them back. Rather, it decided on improving its facilities. ‘‘This is part of our success story,” he enthused.