Radiologist tasks govt on better diagnostic services in hospitals

Worried by the increasing number of Nigerians seeking medical care in the United States of America, India, Britain; a radiologist has called on the Federal Government to upgrade diagnostic services that have hindered early detection and effective diagnosis and treatment of diseases in public hospitals in the country.

Emmanuel Chukwurah, general manager, Purple Ray Diagnostics Centre, who made this known to BusinessDay at the inauguration of the Purple Ray Diagnostic Centre in collaboration with Global Energy Health Care services in Lagos , said poor diagnosis had frustrated efforts of medical doctors and health workers at saving the lives of their patients.

While pointing out that most public hospitals were equipped with obsolete machines and diagnostic equipment that would not detect diseases, Chukwurah noted that this move had increased human and medical errors in the health care sector.

According to him, “in Nigeria , the analogue medical system has remained the order of the day. It is as a result of this shortfall in healthcare services that the centre commissioned (today) is designed to provide world class services to all who require medicare. This drive for excellence has propelled the acquisition of the GE Healthcare equipment that is regarded by experts in the medical field as the best equipment available around the world today.

“This launch is the first step of our strategy to penetrate the digital imagery world. Our goal is to make advance healthcare easily accessible in order to significantly improve health lifestyles, as well as reduce medical errors. We will continue to anticipate the needs of our health-conscious clients and continue to provide the best value in the industry.”

Echoing the sentiments of Chukwurah, John Dindee, managing director, Global Energy Health Care, revealed that diagnostic service is the hallmark of the medical profession, hence investing in this area of health will significantly reduce consultation time and medical bills of the patient.

While stating that diagnosis ensure that ailments are recognised easily, Dindee noted that apart from providing diagnostic facilities, there is the need for human capital development for experts expected to operate the facilities in order to ensure sustenance of the facilities.

“Recent advancement in sciences has given rise to deploying the highest standard of advanced diagnostic imaging services. These facilities need skills and dexterity to operate and this cannot be possible without human capacity development of personnel to man such equipment. However, most advanced medical equipment available in public hospitals seems not to functioning due to poor technical maintenance. This is what the centre is hinged on doing; by capacity development of personnel to man the facilities even as the facilities at the centre are to be managed by local engineers and experts.

“We are working with local experts for sustenance. We should have medical equipment that could last for years if we improve our maintenance culture. The diagnostic centre is taking imaging into a new dimension with the 64 slice CT scanner and other digital sensitive imaging modalities which combine remarkable speed and spatial resolution with superior clarity and a significantly reduced radiation dose to patients. All these services are going to be made easily affordable and accessible to all who need this technology.”

It is believed that the advent of digital imagery in healthcare will not only help reduce medical errors, but will also see a trend whereby secondary opinion on medical cases can be sourced with the aim of proper diagnosis.