A panel formed by the Lagos State branch of the Nigerian Medical Association revealed that the lift that killed their member, Vwaere Diaso, at the General Hospital on Lagos Island, was malfunctioning and unfit for operation.
The panel concluded in its report, which was delivered to the President of the Nigerian Medical Association, Benjamin Olowojebutu, in Lagos on Wednesday, that the lift “ought not to have been used to avoid endangering lives.”
Following the death of a member, Dr Vwaere Diaso, the association established a panel to investigate the circumstances surrounding her death.
The 11-member team was led by Saheed Babajide, an independent commission comprising doctors, lawyers, and engineers.
According to PUNCH METRO, the lift collapsed from the 10th story of the building while Dr Diaso was still inside. She suffered a variety of injuries that eventually led to her death.
According to the findings, the two lifts in the building had been inoperable for a long time, based on the testimony of two house officers examined by panel members.
However, in the report, the panel recommended saying, “Following the standards of Lagos State Safety Commission, we recommend that hospital assets be maintained and serviced by the hospital management to avoid needless bureaucracy and such assets should be certified annually by competent professionals.
“Upon commissioning of assets or technical equipment, the operators of the equipment must be adequately trained and retrained on safety and proper operation and handling of emergencies.
“Routine safety drills should be conducted by safety officers for all staff.”
The panel also suggested conducting a probe into all parties involved, including contractors, and prosecuting anyone found guilty.
The proposals also call for immortalising the deceased by renaming the house officers’ quarters at General Hospital Odan on Lagos Island in her honour.
After receiving the panel’s report, the NMA President, Olowojebutu, told reporters in Lagos on Wednesday that the death of one of their members, Vwaere Diaso, will not be forgotten.
He said, “For us at the Nigerian Medical Association, the reason why we have made this an important part of our duty is that if something has been bad for that long and nothing had been done and it took the life of our doctor to make things happen, I feel/think it’s very preventable. It’s just common sense, put a slab on it and say ‘Do not use’, it’s just common sense.
“So everybody involved, every agency involved must answer the question. You know the way we’re in Nigeria, we’ll just say after a while we’ll all go back to normal stuff, we don’t want that, do you know why?
“It’s not only Doctors that can die, it can be anyone that can have this accident. There must be proper safety rules, there must be proper adherent rules that make sure Nigerians and Lagosians are safe.”
