By Destiny Obinna
The Lagos State Government has intensified efforts to improve patient safety in the management of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), with stakeholders calling for stronger regulation, clinical governance, medication safety and continuity of care to reduce avoidable harm.
The call was made at the 2026 World Patient Safety Day commemoration organised by the Health Facilities Monitoring and Accreditation Agency (HEFAMAA).
Speaking at the event, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Health, Dr. Kemi Ogunyemi, said patients living with hypertension, diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, sickle cell disease and chronic respiratory conditions required care that was not only accessible and effective but safe throughout their treatment journey.
Ogunyemi said the long-term nature of NCD management, involving repeated consultations, diagnostic tests, medication, referrals, follow-up and lifestyle changes, created several points where patients could suffer avoidable harm.
“That is why patient safety must remain a fundamental component of healthcare delivery in Lagos State,” she said.
Ogunyemi disclosed that the state had strengthened its clinical governance system with the inauguration of the Lagos State Task Force on Clinical Governance and Patient Safety.
According to her, the task force is expected to develop a statewide patient-safety framework, establish minimum safety standards, strengthen incident reporting and learning, improve complaints and redress mechanisms, and develop quality and patient-safety indicators.
She identified diagnostic safety, medication safety, referral systems, continuity of care and effective communication between patients and healthcare providers as areas requiring sustained attention.
Ogunyemi also said Lagos was deploying digital health systems to improve coordination and continuity of care, noting that the Smart Health Information Platform (SHIP) would support better information flow across the health system.
She urged healthcare providers to make patients active participants in decisions concerning their treatment.
“An informed patient is not merely a recipient of healthcare. The patient is a partner in safe care,” she said.
Also speaking, Chairman of the Lagos State House of Assembly Committee on Health, Hon. Musbau Aina Lawal, called for stronger health systems and effective regulation to guarantee safe and quality care for people living with NCDs.
Lawal said diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular diseases and sickle cell disease require long-term management, making patient safety critical to improving outcomes.
He stressed that safe care “does not happen by chance”, but requires strong health systems, competent and ethical healthcare professionals, reliable medicines and equipment, effective referral systems, accurate information and meaningful patient participation.
He urged the government to provide appropriate policies, legislation and regulatory frameworks, while healthcare providers should uphold professional standards and accountability.
Earlier, the Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Health, Dr. Dayo Lajide, said a strong health system remained the foundation for safe and quality healthcare.
She identified adequate infrastructure, qualified personnel, functional equipment, essential medicines, reliable records and effective clinical protocols as key components of a functional health system.
Lajide called for closer collaboration among regulators, healthcare facilities, professional bodies and providers, stressing that regulation should not only identify non-compliance but actively drive improvement.
She said quality and safety should be treated as the responsibility of healthcare providers rather than being viewed merely as requirements imposed by regulators.
The Chairman of the HEFAMAA Board, Dr. Yemisi Solanke-Koya, said the 2026 commemoration was significant as it coincided with the agency’s 20th anniversary.
She said the milestone provided an opportunity to assess HEFAMAA’s regulatory journey and identify areas requiring further improvement in ensuring safe and quality healthcare across Lagos.
Solanke-Koya said HEFAMAA, established in 2006, had evolved from inspection to a broader regulatory mandate covering registration, monitoring, accreditation, licensing, enforcement and quality improvement.
She said the changing healthcare environment required the agency to become more innovative, data-driven and risk-based.
“A regulator that stops evolving stops being relevant to the system it regulates,” she said.
The Executive Secretary of HEFAMAA, Dr. Victoria Egunjobi, said the agency’s 20-year regulatory journey had remained focused on promoting standards, quality and safety across healthcare facilities in the state.
She said regulation was not an end in itself but a means of ensuring that patients received safe and effective care delivered with dignity.
Egunjobi assured that HEFAMAA would continue to pursue a proactive, risk-based and data-driven regulatory system while collaborating with healthcare providers, government institutions, professional bodies, development partners and patients to close safety gaps and strengthen accountability.
The keynote speaker and Consultant Nephrologist at Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Dr. Ajibola Sanda, identified late detection, medication-related harm, poor follow-up and communication failures as major safety gaps in NCD care.
Sanda called for early screening, accurate diagnosis, medication reconciliation, appropriate referrals, effective follow-up and patient education.
He also advocated a learning culture in which errors and near misses are reported and investigated to identify weaknesses in the health system and prevent recurrence, rather than focusing solely on punishment.
Representing the World Health Organisation State Representative, Cluster Supervisor Dr. Opeyemi Ogundinmu commended the Lagos State Government and HEFAMAA for efforts to improve healthcare quality and safety.
He said NCD patients were particularly vulnerable to diagnostic delays, medication errors and fragmented services because their care often involved multiple providers over long periods.
Ogundinmu said the WHO remained committed to supporting Lagos in strengthening patient-safety systems and evidence-based NCD care.
During a panel session moderated by Dr. Olajide Sobande, experts identified frontline care, patient education, medication safety, effective referrals and continuous professional development as essential components of safe NCD care.
The panellists, including Dr. Monisola Adanijo, Dr. Japhet Olugbogi, Dr. Omolola Salako, Pharm. Solape Adenuga and Nurse Aisha Babatunde, also advocated a non-blaming “just culture” that encourages the reporting, investigation and learning from medical errors.
They stressed the need for stronger multidisciplinary approaches to cancer care, medication reconciliation, improved triage, clear communication and effective follow-up systems.
The panel further urged patients taking multiple medications to disclose all prescribed, over-the-counter and other products to healthcare providers to minimise the risk of drug interactions, duplication and adverse reactions.
In a “Patient Voices: Have I Received Safe Care?” session moderated by Dr. Noimot Abisola Balogun, people living with chronic conditions shared their experiences of navigating healthcare services.
They highlighted affordability, access to quality medicines, respectful communication, continuity of care and patient education as critical to improving patient safety.
One participant, who has lived with diabetes for 26 years, rated her experience with the Lagos State healthcare system at about 70 per cent, while acknowledging areas requiring improvement.
Participants also called for wider use of digital health records to reduce fragmentation when patients move between healthcare facilities and providers.
They identified SHIP as a potential platform for improving continuity of care and advocated stronger support groups, pharmacovigilance, healthcare-worker training and holistic patient-centred care.
The event reinforced the theme of the 2026 World Patient Safety Day: “Safe Care for Non-Communicable Diseases” “Safe Care for Life.”
