Dr Olugbenga Owoeye, Medical Director, Federal Neuro-psychiatric Hospital Yaba, has enjoined the hospital’s staff to intensify efforts toward ensuring safety of patients.
Owoeye made the call at a lecture organised by the hospital in commemoration of the World Patient Safety Day (WPSD) on Tuesday in Lagos.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports the WPSD had the theme: ” Improving Diagnosis For Patient Safety” with the slogan: ” Get It Right And Make It Safe”.
The day is celebrated annually on Sept. 16 to increase public awareness and engagement, enhance global understanding, and spur global solidarity and action to promote patient safety.
He said that ensuring safety of the patients required collective efforts of all the hospital’s health workers.
He said that the doctors, nurses, pharmacists, patients and all other health workers in the health system were all important in ensuring safety of patients.
Owoeye said that accurate diagnosis was also paramount in ensuring patient safety, saying that misdiagnosis could result to patient harm, mistreatment and even death of the patient
According to him, diagnostic error causes a greater percentage of patient harm, stressing the need for accurate diagnosis, which was key to patient safety and survival.
“In ensuring patient safety, every stakeholder in the health system is important and has a role to play.
“For the health personnel, there is need for training and retraining so that accurate diagnosis and effective services can be made.
“For the policymakers, there is a need for them to provide the enabling environment, equipment, and resources needed for training of the health personnel, as well as the effective operation of the health system.
“The patients themselves should be forthcoming and not hoarding information; they should open up to the doctors by providing the necessary information about their health condition,” he said.
Dr. Faith Ibisola, a consultant family physician, said that the importance of accurate diagnosis could not be overemphasised.
Ibisola, also a guest speaker at the event, said that every stakeholder should play their part in ensuring patient safety and outcomes, urging health personnel to always be friendly to the patient.
According to her, the day is an opportunity to create awareness on the need for patients safety.
“Ensuring that diagnosis is accurate is a team effort of everyone in the system.
“Team effort starts from the gateman; if the gateman is harsh and aggressive to the patient, it can make the patient give wrong information to the doctor, and this can affect the patient’s treatment outcomes.
“Similarly, if the lab scientist misdiagnosed the tests or the pharmacist dispensed the wrong medication, all these can affect the patient outcomes.
“So, it is a campaign for all stakeholders in the health care system to work together and share engagement to improve patient safety,” she said.
Earlier, Dr. Abosede Adegbite, Consultant Special Grade 1, said that the Federal Ministry of Health prioritised the issue of patient safety, to which it has encouraged federal government hospitals across the country to mark the day.
Adegbite urged health workers to also prioritise patient safety by making themselves competent, trustworthy, and reliable healthcare providers to the patients.
According to her, health workers should present themselves in a way that the patient would not only feel safe in their hands but also have confidence in them.
The event also featured award presentations to two staff members of the hospital for their outstanding contributions to the development of the hospital.(NAN
