Stakeholders partner NBA on patients’ rights, safety

As part of effort to protect patients’ right and ensure their safety, Beyhealth Foundation has partnered with the Nigerian Bar Association Section on Business Law (NBA-SBL) to develop policies in that direction.

The policies are aimed at protecting the rights of patients and strengthen the health sector in the Nigeria.This was revealed during the recent Healthcare Management Conference on Medicine, Accountability and Law held in Lagos by the Director General, Beyhealth, Mr. Adetokunbo Shitta-Bey.

Speaking at the event, he said the health sector has been faced with a lot of complicated issues of infrastructure, healthcare delivery and lack of education on patient’s rights.Tokounbo said: “The issues in the health sector is not only bothering the doctors and nurses, but other stakeholders constituting the health sector. We can’t just look at the doctors and nurses alone, but we also have to look at other stakeholders in the sector and how regulated they are. We have to think about the protection, which the patient has from poor performance.”

According to him, the partnership is also aimed at developing policies that would help in the regulation of the industry. “We would be considering the existing laws, the ethics and legal education of medical practice in the context of Nigerian law. We want to know if these laws exist and if there are there, why are they not been used instrumentally,” he said.

The Chairman of the NBA-SBL, Mr. Olumide Akpata stressed that there is a need to involve the lawyers by educating and training them to protect the rights of patients.Akpata said: “The Nigerian Bar Association is not only bothered about their profession but fighting for the rights of the common man. So we identify with Beyhealth on the issue of patient’s rights. It is important for NBA that members of the profession obtain the required skill or find the required training so that they can give knowledgeable advice to patients when the need arises.”

While emphasizing on the rights of patients, Director General of the Consumer Protection Council, Babtunde Irukera noted that it’s not only about educating the patients on their rights but also to educate the health providers on how patient’s rights can be delivered.

“The most important thing is that all Nigerians should know their rights, demand for them and insist on them while the healthcare providers should be able to know those rights and render them,” he said.