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Tag: UITH

  • Expert urges doctors to guard against negligence, improper record-keeping

    An International Medical Law expert, Mr Laolu Osanyin, says Nigerian doctors are the easiest to be sued owing to their negligence and improper record-keeping.

    Osanyin made the remark while presenting a paper titled: “Medicine, Malpractice and Misapprehension Conundrum: The Need to Protect the Doctors from Litigation” at the 2018 Scientific Conference on Thursday in Ilorin.

    The conference was organised by the Association of Resident Doctors (ARDs), University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH) Chapter.

    According to him, Nigerian Doctors are the worst record keepers and that in medical law, if it is not written, it did not happen.

    The  expert pointed out that some Nigerian doctors were “guilty” of malpractices without even knowing it, stressing that a Consultant Supervisor would be responsible for the mistakes of his subordinate.

    “You don’t have to see a patient to be responsible for him or her; medical negligence is the omission to do what a responsible medical practitioner would do or doing what a reasonable medical practitioner would refrain from doing,” said Laolu.

    According to him, the failure to exercise that care which the circumstances demand is tantamount to negligence on the part of doctors.

    He also described doctors who evade the Annual Practising Licence, as “engaging in negligence that can be used against them in the court of law during litigation.”

    The expert emphasised that doctors could avert litigation by ensuring good record keeping and adequately informing patients of the risks inherent in treatment.

    He said doctors should also speak to the patients in the language they understand and write legibly for easy understanding, among others.

     

    Read Also:LUTH strike: Doctors lament over unpaid salaries

     

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Osanyin is the first African on the Board of Governors of the World Association of Medical Law till date.

    In his remarks, the Chief Medical Director, (CMD) of UITH, Prof. Dasilva Yusuf, said health care providers had become an endangered species and the earlier they realised that the better for the profession.

    Represented by Dr Abiodun Adeniran of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Yusuf observed that most of the issues that caused disagreement between patients and health care providers were preventable.

    He added that one of the aspects to prevent litigation was proper documentation which he said was fundamental in the medical profession

    The CMD counselled that when patients have a serious condition, doctors should take time to explain to them in clear terms.

    He advised them to know when to call for help most, particularly when they know they cannot perform maximally.

    Earlier, the ARD president, UITH Chapter, Dr Owolabi Sunday, observed that there was a rise in litigation against doctors in recent times.

    He, therefore, stressed the need for enhanced training and provision of adequate medical equipment in addition to conducive work environment for medical practitioners in Nigeria.

    Dr Sunday lauded the current CMD for his commitment to the welfare of medical doctors and expressed delight at the harmonious relation between the association and the UITH management.

  • Expert warns against excessive intake of processed food

    A medical expert, Dr Femi Babatunde of the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH) warns that excessive consumption of processed food is detrimental to the people’s health.

    Babatunde gave the warning in Ilorin on Tuesday while speaking with our reporter in Lokoja on Tuesday.

    The expert, who said that processed food was dangerous to health, expressed concern that most Nigerians were ignorant of what they ate, adding they only cared for fast food to satisfy their appetite.

    According to him, most of the processed food contains ingredients that can endanger human health.

    “Many Nigerians are ignorantly over addicted to eating processed food which is the cause of increase in damage to their internal system.

    ”Only what people care for now is processed food, which is doing more harm than good to their body. People consuming processed food are killing themselves gradually.

    ”Laziness is promoting passion for processed food as many prefers to buy already made food than prepare it for personally,” he said.

    He enjoined Nigerians to eat more of vegetables, in order to be healthy and effectively carry out their day to day activities.

    Babatunde also said that food rich in fat should be avoided so as not to develop heart related diseases.

    He also urged the government and health experts to make it a duty to organise programmes that would promote sound and create awareness among the public on the imperative of ensuring healthy living.

  • Extend NHIS to infertility cases, UITH chief says

    Extend NHIS to infertility cases, UITH chief says

    University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital Chief Medical Director (CMD), Prof Abdulwaheed Olatinwo, has canvassed  extension of National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to persons with infertility, adding that infertility is not a problem for women alone.

    According to him, statistics  have shown that the degree of the reproductive deformity in women is the same as those in their male counterparts.

    While infertility has raised many ethical, legal and social questions, the cost of managing it, Oatinwo said, remained enormous and  required government’s interventions.

    Olatinwo, who said this while delivering the 178th Inaugural Lecture of the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), said the Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) has become the most efficient method in removing the societal stigma of infertility from many couples.

    In a lecture titled: “Help for the helpless and hope for the hopeless: the medicine of reproductive possibility’’, Prof Olatinwo said: “Infertility should be made a public health issue because it is socially constricted, existing at the crossroads of medical and social realms. It’s management should, therefore, be given special consideration under the NHIS to ease the burden of the affected individuals.”

    He advocated preventive strategies for preventing infertility and child-maternal death in Nigeria.

    Olatinwo, who lamented the financial constraints of persons suffering from infertility in accessing the ART, said unless his propositions were adopted, many Nigerians might die childless.

    He said: “ART has emerged as one of the most widely adopted and successful medical technologies in the last century. While giving hope to millions of couples suffering from infertility, unfortunately, ART services are inaccessible to large sections of the population, mainly due to very high cost of treatment.

    “ART also has presented new ethical, legal and social questions that society must address. Many countries have taken steps to regulate certain aspects of ART. However, such are still in very rudimentary stages in Nigeria.

    “There is an urgent need for stakeholders  (fertility specialists, clients, professional organisations, religious bodies, bio-ethicists, and government) in developing countries,  to formulate cultural and context -specific guidelines to address some of these ethical dilemmas.”

    Although the UITH boss urged the government to improve on electricity generation and distribution in Nigeria, he added that the government should collaborate with the private sector “who are the main providers of IVY services” by way of reducing or waiving taxes for IVF, drugs, and consumables.

    Besides, Olatinwo urged the National Assembly to pass the Bill on the establishment of the ‘Nigerian- Assisted Reproduction Authority’,  sponsored by the National Association of Fertility and Reproductive Health (AFRH-Nigeria), to serve as a starting point for regulation of ART practice in the country.

    Olatinwo said the ART unit he  established at the UITH has been rated as one of best in the public health sector, adding that the unit had taken deliveries of over 30 babies, including sets of twins and triplets.

  • UITH to invoke ‘no-work no-pay’ on striking doctors

    The management of University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH) has threatened to invoke the ‘No-Work No-Pay’ directive of the Federal Ministry of Health on the striking Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), if it fails to call off its strike.

    It criticised members for negating the rules of industrial relations in their five-day warning strike.

    The doctors, on Wednesday, began a five-day warning strike to protest unpaid emoluments.

    The doctors, in their August 1 letter, said the decision to go on strike was taken at their July 31 emergency meeting.

    But the hospital management said the start of the strike on August 2, barely 24 hours after serving them notice, was a malicious action and a deliberate step at shunning duties.

    The hospital’s Head of Corporate Affairs Mrs. Olufunmilayo Omojasola, in a statement, said: “The management wishes to register its displeasure with the short notice of this current strike, which gave no window of engagement, and to remind the association of the Federal Ministry of Health’s ‘No-Work No-Pay’ directive.

    “Management, however, remains open to negotiations aimed at ending the strike and preventing a recurrence of same. The management of UITH has always paid resident doctors in its employ full salaries as at when due, except on a few occasions when funds were remitted late.  Management did not renege on any promise as alleged, as there was no reason for that.

    “The hospital management has continued to pay a palliative allowance as agreed on previous negotiations with the association, concerning skipping allowances, just as it is open to discussions concerning payment of pension deductions to PFAs in line with extant rules and regulations.”

    However, investigation showed normal activities are going on at the hospital, as consultants continue to attend to patients.

  • ‘Spicy food, excessive alcohol cause mouth odour’

    ‘Spicy food, excessive alcohol cause mouth odour’

    A PHARMACIST with the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH), AbdulHamid Alege, yesterday in Ilorin said spicy food and excessive alcohol could cause mouth odour.

    He said this in his lecture, which was part of the activities at the “Keep fit” exercise for the month of April for members of staff of UITH.

    He also said dental plaque, the sticky stuff which coats the teeth and inflame the gum where germs grow, has been identified as the major cause of mouth odour.

    The pharmacist said the best way to prevent mouth odour is to brush the teeth after each meal, and to consult a dentist if mouth odour persists.