The Health Facilities Monitoring and Accreditation Agency (HEFAMAA) has emphasised the need for strict adherence to established protocols and effective communication in the screening and management of patients within the health sector.

The Executive Secretary of HEFAMAA, Dr. Victoria Egunjobi, stated this when she received members of the Nigerian Optometric Association (NOA), Lagos Chapter, who paid a courtesy visit to the agency to introduce the newly inaugurated Executive Committee and discuss issues of mutual interest.

In her welcome remarks, Egunjobi stressed that strict compliance with standard protocols during patient screening, coupled with effective communication between healthcare providers and patients, would significantly reduce avoidable challenges and misunderstandings in healthcare delivery.

She said: “There is a need for us, as practitioners in the health sector, to adhere strictly to protocols in screening. This is what we emphasise as an Agency. It will go a long way in ensuring that things are properly done at every stage before treatment is administered to a patient. There is also a need for issues to be well communicated between healthcare providers and patients, as well as among members of professional associations.”

The Executive Secretary further reiterated HEFAMAA’s commitment to promoting quality healthcare delivery through regulatory oversight, standardisation and collaboration with relevant professional bodies.

In her remarks, the newly inaugurated Chairperson of the Nigerian Optometric Association, Lagos Chapter, Dr. Ghenorhe Ehimen, appreciated the excellent working relationship between the Agency and the immediate past Executive Committee of the Association. She pledged to build on the existing relationship and sustain the legacy of collaboration.

Ehimen also solicited the continued inclusion of representatives of the Association in HEFAMAA monitoring teams. She appealed to the Agency to support the Association’s efforts to curb quackery and indiscriminate vision screening across the State.

Responding to the requests, Egunjobi assured the NOA delegation that the Agency would look into the issues raised with a view to finding appropriate and mutually beneficial solutions.

She reaffirmed HEFAMAA’s commitment to strengthening collaboration with professional associations and other stakeholders in the health sector towards ensuring the delivery of safe, standardised and quality healthcare services to residents of Lagos State.