The Chairman Lagos State House Committee on Health, Hon. Hakeem Olushola Shokunle and his team, on Monday, 31st of October, 2022, paid a working visit to the Management of Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH).
Hon. Shokunle explained that the aim of the visit is to discuss ideas to facilitate the proposed upgrade of some General Hospitals in Lagos State. It has been recognized that the pressure on LASUTH is enormous and this proposed move is expected to reduce it.
While welcoming the team from the House Committee on Health, the Chief Medical Director, Prof. Adetokunbo O. Fabamwo provided some angles to the idea of upgrading General Hospitals into Teaching Hospitals. He explained that upgrading a general hospital into a teaching hospital will require that a medical school is attached to it. He also spoke further on the attrition rate of medical personnel as one of the key areas to look into while considering the idea because it is important to put into consideration a plan for the human resource aspect.
He suggested a strengthening of the referral system which was once in place, as one sure way of improving quality healthcare amongst all the tiers of hospitals in Lagos. He opined that if the referral system functions properly, patients would access healthcare faster rather than moving from hospital to hospital in search of space for admission.
The CMD continued by saying that General Hospitals can be upgraded into State Specialist Medical Centres with a tertiary status and focus would be on one or two specific areas specialization.
Hon. Shokunle appreciated the CMD and his team for an illuminating interaction, he promised to consider all the ideas discussed.
