Lagos govt shuts hospital for transfusing patients with unscreened blood

The Lagos State Government has shut a private hospital at Ago-Okota in the Oshodi-Isolo Local Government Area of the state for collecting and transfusing unscreened blood to patients.

The Executive Secretary of the Lagos State Blood Transfusion Service (LSBTS), Dr Bodunrin Osikomaiya, made this known in a statement issued by the Director, Public Affairs, State Ministry of Health, Tunbosun Ogunbanwo, on Sunday, October 15, 2023.

Osikomaiya said the LSBTS in collaboration with the Lagos State Health Facilities Monitoring and Accreditation Agency (HEFAMAA) sealed the facility following a tip-off from a resident.

“Following the tip off, and after thorough investigations, the enforcement teams of LSBTS and HEFAMAA, during their joint monitoring exercise in the area, visited the facility and confirmed to be true, the unwholesome, unprofessional and unethical medical practices and conduct of the hospital management,” the LSBTS boss said.

She added that the facility was shut for contravening the blood transfusion service law and for unethical and unprofessional medical practice, as well as putting the lives of unsuspecting citizens at risk.

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“The law states that no person within Lagos State shall transfuse blood into a patient unless such blood has been screened, tested, labeled by the state blood transfusion committee, and found to be negative for all transmissible diseases including HIV I and II, Hepatitis B and C, Syphilis and any other disease as may be deemed necessary by LSBTS,” she stated.

Osikomaiya said the details of the blood donors and transfusion recipients had been retrieved from the management of the hospital, noting that patients who were transfused with the unscreened units of blood at the facility were being traced as part of protocol to ascertain their clinical health status and ensure their safety.

The LSBTS boss stressed that the management of the hospital and workers found culpable in the unwholesome act would be prosecuted in accordance with appropriate laws.

She noted that the agency had rejigged its strategies in sanitising Lagos State against unethical blood transfusion practices and continued to wage war against unwholesome practice of transfusing unscreened blood in the state.

Osikomaiya, therefore, appealed to citizens to support the war against unwholesome blood transfusion service by reporting infractions and unwholesome practices when they see any.

She also implored health workers and stakeholders involved in the blood transfusion chain, including blood banks, blood donation centres, and logistics firms to adhere strictly to the WHO regulations and the Lagos State Blood Transfusion laws on blood donation, collection, and transfusion.

The Star