Security of patients, staff, our responsibility- UCH •Fidelity renovates central toilets in UCH

Against the backdrop of security challenges in Nigeria, University College Hospital (UCH) said it has undertaken series of training for its security officers and acquiring gadgets to forestall any security breach at the hospital.

UCH’s Chief Medical Director, Professor Abiodun Otegbayo, declaring open a 2-day training on security planning, strategy, proactiveness and preparedness against crisis and threats situations at the hospital, said the security of lives and property was core to the hospital’s management.

He said the hospital saw the security of its patient, staff and visitors as its responsibility, as such, the series of training for its security officers, as well as the acquisition of security gadgets like walkie talkies to do their work effectively.

Otegbayo, who said scanners will also be fixed at the hospital’s main gates, assured that CCTV cameras were to be put in hot spots in the hospital such as the mortuary and accident and emergency department.

According to him, “we decided that we should not wait till we have a bad or ugly incident before we wake up to our responsibilities. Like it happened in 2018, a member of the Crown Security staff was killed on UCH campus, it was an ugly incident. We do not want such to happen again.”

He, therefore, urged the security men to ensure the hospital benefited from the dividend of the training and acquired security gadgets.

Meanwhile, Fidelity Bank PLC, as part of its CRS philosophy on Environment, Education and Health/Social welfare, renovated 12 central toilets at the hospital.

The bank’s regional head, South-West 1, Mr Adebayo Adeyinka, said the renovated toilets, a staff-driven initiative, is to reinforce the banks’ strong, healthy community relations with the hospital.

According to him, “we strive to play a leading role by identifying with and seeking solutions to the problems of society, especially those in the immediate operational environment.”

Mr Adeyinka highlighted other projects under the Fidelity Helping Hands Programme (FHHP) to include equipping of the medical bay of the Bishop Crowther Memorial Primary School, Lagos and the renovation and furnishing of the female surgical and paediatric ward of the Minna General Hospital in Niger State.

UCH’s Chief Medical director, Professor Otegbayo said the gesture was worthy of emulation by the hospital’s other strategic partners, corporate bodies and philanthropists given that government alone cannot fund healthcare services.

Professor Otegbayo said the renovated toilets would have a great impact on patients and visitors to the hospital.

He declared that “hundreds of people visit this hospital on a daily basis and, in fact, there are some areas you get to that the stench of urine will not let you breathe very well. So now that there are decent toilets here, some of them will rather come over to use them than defacing the environment.”