Dr Seyi Oyesola, Chief Executive Officer/Founder of Anesthesia and Critical Care Consultants (A3Cs), says there is an urgent need for specialised training in critical care for doctors and nurses, to reduce unnecessary mortality across West Africa.
Oyesola, who is a consultant in anesthesia and critical care, made the call during a visit by A3Cs team to the Lagos office of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday.
According to him, across West Africa, there is no formal training for doctors who want to specialise in critical care, although there is anesthesia.
“Anesthesia and critical care as a whole is one of the underserved specialties in the world.
“If you want to become a gynaecologist or neurosurgeon, you can either go to the West African Postgraduate College or the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria.
“In the whole of West Africa, there is not a single institution that offers formal training programme in critical care and so, it compounds patient care at the intensive care level ,” he said.
The consultant, who trained across Nigeria, the Unted States as well as the United Kingdom and also a simulation trainer, added that areas designated as Intensive Care Units in some hospitals in West Africa, do not meet international standards.
“Critical care is actually a highly focused specialty and it is not to be taken lightly because it involves constant patient monitoring.
“There are many units which are sign posted as intensive care units in hospitals that are not and can never pass for an intensive care unit.
“If you get to a standard intensive care unit, the first thing that will strike you is the amount of equipment in place,” he said.
The expert stressed the need for Nigerians to be enlightened on the precise role of anesthesia and critical care in peri-operative care of patients.
“90-95 per cent of critical care is nursing and so there is also a great need to train more intensive care nurses, as many of the best leave to earn more in Europe, the Gulf region and the Americas,” he said. (NAN)