Lagos warns against unregistered hospitals, opens Ajah office

Executive Secretary of the Health Facility Monitoring and Accreditation Agency, Victoria Egunjobi.

The Lagos State Government has warned residents against patronising unregistered hospitals and clinics, cautioning that unregulated healthcare facilities could expose patients to serious health risks.

The warning came as the state opened an annex office of the Health Facilities Monitoring and Accreditation Agency in Ajah to strengthen the monitoring of healthcare facilities and tackle medical quackery.

The agency disclosed this in a statement on its community sensitisation and outreach programme to introduce the new office, obtained by The PUNCH on Thursday.

The Executive Secretary of HEFAMAA, Dr Victoria Egunjobi, represented by the Director of Monitoring and Inspection, Dr Olayinka Daniel, urged residents of Ajah and neighbouring communities to seek treatment only at government-approved and registered healthcare facilities.

She advised residents to verify the registration and accreditation status of hospitals before seeking medical attention and report suspected unregistered facilities and substandard healthcare practices to the agency.

The statement said the outreach also educated residents on their rights as healthcare consumers, patient safety and the importance of community participation in preventing medical quackery.

It added that the Ajah annex would bring regulatory services closer to healthcare providers, make access easier to the agency and strengthen compliance monitoring in the area.

HEFAMAA said the initiative would also encourage traditional institutions, healthcare professionals and residents to take collective responsibility for ensuring safe and properly regulated healthcare delivery.

All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.