The Cross River Taskforce on Health Quality and Anti-Quackery has shut down a private health facility, Safe Hands Maternity Clinic, in Calabar Municipality following a reported patient death after surgery.
The task force, chaired by Dan Abubakar, carried out an unscheduled inspection of the facility after receiving a petition alleging that a patient had died following a surgical procedure there. The facility, owned by Inyang Ekeng, a community health extension officer, was found to be a three-bedroom apartment that had been converted into a six-bed maternity clinic operating without licensed nursing personnel.
During the inspection, the task force discovered that surgeries were allegedly being performed by Sunday Abeng, a medical doctor and registrar at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, under substandard conditions. The committee also found that the clinic was operating beyond its approved scope of practice and had admitted a stroke patient who had reportedly been abandoned.
According to the task force, the facility lacked operational licences, standard consulting rooms, adequate office space, proper ventilation, staff records, and a register documenting treated patients. Other violations identified included the absence of patient registration documentation, a lack of theatre records, poor sanitation, inadequate waste disposal systems, and the employment of unqualified personnel.
Reacting to the findings, Abubakar expressed concern over the conditions observed at the facility, describing such establishments as “potential death traps” that endangered unsuspecting members of the public. He said the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, in line with the state government’s vision, would not tolerate the continued operation of illegal and substandard healthcare facilities.
“The Governor is currently face-lifting and constructing modern, well-equipped health centres across the state. Residents are strongly encouraged to seek care at these approved government facilities rather than risk their lives with quack operators,” he stated.
Abubakar warned that patronising unaccredited clinics was tantamount to a suicide mission, considering the dangerous and unsanitary conditions under which many of them operated. It was also gathered that the clinic owner and attending doctor were given time to evacuate all admitted patients before the facility was sealed.