The Cross River State Government has sealed Safe Hand’s Maternity Clinic in Calabar Municipality following the reported death of a patient after surgery at the facility.
The clinic was shut down on Monday by the State Task Force on Health Quality and Anti-Quackery after an investigation uncovered multiple violations of healthcare regulations, including the conduct of surgical procedures in a substandard environment and the operation of the facility without the required approvals.
Chairman of the task force, Dr. Dan Abubakar, said the action followed an unscheduled inspection prompted by a petition linking the facility to the death of a patient who reportedly underwent surgery at the clinic located on Iyata Street in Calabar.
Speaking during the inspection, Abubakar described the conditions at the facility as a threat to public health and safety.
He said: “What we found here is completely unacceptable.
“Facilities operating under these conditions are potential death traps and have no place in a healthcare system that prioritises patient safety and quality service delivery.”
According to him, investigators discovered serious breaches of professional and operational standards at the facility.
Abubakar said: “We found a clinic owned by Mrs. Inyang Ekeng, a Community Health Extension Officer operating from a converted three-bedroom apartment that had been transformed into a six-bed maternity ward without any licensed nurses on its staff and surgical procedures were being carried out by Dr. Sunday Abeng, a registrar with the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital. Such an environment is poorly equipped and unsuitable for such medical interventions.”
The task force also found that the clinic was operating beyond its approved scope of practice and had admitted an abandoned stroke patient despite lacking the capacity and infrastructure to manage such a case.
Other violations identified during the inspection included the absence of operational licences, inadequate consulting rooms, poor ventilation, lack of staff records and patient registers, absence of theatre records, unhygienic conditions, poor waste management systems and the engagement of unqualified personnel.
Abubakar said the administration of Governor Bassey Otu remains committed to eliminating quackery in the health sector and ensuring residents have access to safe and regulated healthcare services.
He said: “The state government is making significant investments in the health sector through the renovation and construction of modern healthcare facilities across the state, and residents should patronize only accredited health centres.”
He added: “The Governor is currently undertaking a facelift and constructing modern, well-equipped health facilities across Cross River State.
“We urge residents to seek medical care in approved facilities rather than risk their lives in the hands of unqualified operators.”
