‘Intensive Care Unit can transform maintenance of high-need patients’ Oyesola

Despite the large amount of investment in Nigeria’s health sector over the past ten years, there has been little traction gained in achieving the desired results of improved health outcomes.
“Intensive care unit care can transform maintenance of high- need patients in Nigeria in other to improve clinical outcomes in terms of saving patients, recovery rates and higher standard of health care services delivery” Babaseyi Oyesola
Babaseyi Oyesola, Intensive Care Unit (ICU) specialist at Anaesthesia, Critical Care and Medical Simulation made this assertion during the mid-year guest lecture 2017 of the Campbell street clinical group held in Lagos on 25 July.
“A person in an ICU needs constant medical attention and support to keep their body functioning. They may be unable to breathe on their own and have multiple organ failure. Medical equipment will take the place of these functions while the person recovers”.
He added that hospitals have primary responsibility for one of the biggest public health challenges with the explosion in the number of people living with complex, serious illnesses.
“Healthcare is expensive, so is intensive care. Improving clinical outcomes in Nigeria, we have to look at the way we make our ICU a reality”
Oyesola recommended how hospitals and health systems can address challenges and stated that the corner stone for healthcare is funding, which is an issue everywhere, cooperate social responsibility, educating and training medical doctors, medical simulation, combined ICU from several hospitals.
He noted that palliative care is the care of patients with active, progressive, far-advanced disease with limited life expectancy. It is a vital component of the basic essential services within the Universal Health Coverage as defined by the World Health Organisation, (WHO).
“End of life care should be part of our patient management strategy in the system of healthcare in Nigeria and we really need to stop using ICU as a palliative centre”
“Only a patient who has very high chances of survival should be admitted, if you think the patient is unlikely to survive, it is not appropriate to admit” said Oyesola.
Experts from the Campbell street clinical group added that Nigeria needs to face the fact that the health sector is suffering from systematic collapse for various reasons, still struggling without state-of-the-art technology, adequate man-power supply and requires also appropriate funding in terms of provision.
Experts say this systematic crisis will take time to change because investors are careful when pumping money into investment; they want to be sure that they get returns. Without the health insurance, some of them are taking a big risk, but Nigeria will begin to see the state of intensive care improve.

Anthonia Obokoh