By Kemi Akintokun

The Medical Director of Orile-Agege General Hospital, Lagos, Dr Temitope Bakare, has stressed the importance of clinical governance in ensuring safe, patient-centred and quality healthcare delivery.

Bakare said sustainable healthcare required accountable leadership, effective governance, empowered teams and a strong institutional culture of quality and safety.

She spoke at the hospital’s sixth annual strategic management retreat on Friday in Lagos.

The retreat was themed: “Clinical Governance as a Catalyst for Change: Positioning OAGH for Quality, Safety and Sustainable Healthcare Excellence”.

Bakare said the retreat was organised to review the hospital’s performance, consolidate achievements and set strategic priorities.

She identified accountability, clinical audit, risk management, patient safety, evidence-based practice and continuous quality improvement as key pillars of clinical governance.

“Our deliberations today are focused on strengthening clinical governance, which is vital to achieving safe, patient-centred care that is affordable and accessible in our facility.

“There is need to translate institutional priorities into measurable interventions that will improve patient outcomes, service efficiency and public confidence through clinical governance,” she said.

She called for a shift from individual efforts to institutional systems, departmental silos to collaboration, and identified challenges to measurable actions and sustainable results.

Bakare reaffirmed the hospital’s commitment to providing effective and affordable healthcare to patients.

Also, Dr Olufemi Omololu, Permanent Secretary of the Lagos State Health Service Commission (HSC), said clinical governance went beyond establishing committees and policies.

Omololu, who delivered the keynote address, said it required effective systems to ensure that patients received the right care at the right time and in the right way.

“Healthcare excellence is not determined solely by infrastructure and equipment but by effective systems, teamwork and measurable improvements in patient outcomes,” he said.

He identified clinical effectiveness, patient and public involvement, risk management, clinical audit, staff management and development, education and training, and information management as pillars of clinical governance.

Omololu stressed the need for hospitals to establish effective incident-reporting systems, noting that reporting errors would help identify operational gaps and prevent their recurrence.

He urged healthcare workers to embrace a non-punitive reporting culture that allowed staff to report mistakes without fear of blame.

He also called for greater emphasis on measuring outcomes rather than activities, saying hospitals should provide evidence of how interventions improved patient care.

Dr Sola Pitan, Permanent Secretary of Lagos State Health District I, commended the hospital’s management for organising the retreat.

Pitan said clinical governance helped improve healthcare delivery through effective treatment and quality services.

He said strategic management retreats provided opportunities for institutional reflection, strategic alignment and renewed commitment to improved healthcare delivery.

“This retreat serves as an action-oriented platform for institutional reflection, strategic alignment and renewed commitment.

“When we engage leaders across various levels of hospitals, it promotes the democratisation of clinical governance and ultimately improves treatment and healthcare services for patients,” he said.

Pitan said the state government had continued to invest in healthcare facilities and supply equipment to strengthen service delivery across its districts.

He added that District I was implementing its Target Zero Initiative to eliminate maternal and neonatal deaths through collaboration among healthcare stakeholders.

The event was attended by Lagos State health sector leaders, including Dr Olusegun Ogboye, HSC Commissioner I, and other commissioners and directors of the commission. (NAN)

Edited by Folasade Adeniran