Feedback from Compliance Inspection of Radiotherapy Centres in Nigeria

Abstract

Feedback from Compliance Inspection of Radiotherapy Centers in Nigeria Between August and October 2011, compliance inspection was conducted in nine radiotherapy centers within Nigeria. The radiotherapy institutions which the NNRA inspectors visited are-Radiotherapy Department, Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching (UDUTH), Sokoto ;Radiotherapy Department, University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH);Radiotherapy Department, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Enugu;Radiotherapy Department, Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Lagos;Radiotherapy Department, National Hospital, Abuja (NHA);Radiotherapy Department, University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan;Radiotherapy Department, EkoCorp Plc Hospital (EKO), Lagos;Radiotherapy Department, Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH), Zaria and Radiotherapy Department, Federal Medical Centre, (FMCG), Gombe. The inspections were preceded by a pre inspection planning which included presentations by inspectors on their planned inspection. Upon completion of the inspections, the inspection reports were submitted and reviewed by a five man committee set up by the Acting DG/CEO to review the reports of the compliance inspection of radiotherapy centers and submit a single report which would take into consideration the general requirements for a good radiotherapy practice. The committee’s membership featured the personalities of Mr. Isa Sambo as the committee chairman, Mr. Adamu John Dahua who filled the committee’s secretarial post, Mr. Saiyadi Sulaiman, Mr. Ogwuche John and Mr. Alhassan Abdullahi as members. Each committee member in addition to their roles within the committee also brought along their knowledge and competence garnered from their respective fields of duty in the NNRA. The committee’s terms of reference included to consider requirements for radiotherapy practice in general, to summarize inspection findings and non-compliance issues by facility, Identify non-compliance issues common to all facilities, to Make appropriate recommendations and submit a report on or before Wednesday 9th November, 2011. The committee noted that among many challenges that there was no code of Radiotherapy practice to which it developed one considering the provisions of various local and international documents on Nuclear and ionizing Radiation. The draft cod of Radiotherapy practice contains requirements on establishing or upgrading a radiotherapy facility with special focus on authorization, quality assurance, facility design etc. in fact, it was noted that all radiotherapy centers lacked essential requirements in more than one area of the code ranging from pre-requisite authorization documents to equipments which had for long been the bane of standard practice. In addition to the sorry state of affairs in radiation practice as regards legal and administrative background, the committee also noted that most radiotherapy centers locked did not adhere to safety related issues surrounding medical exposure and radiation mainly in the aspect of personal dosimetry and other related areas. From the noted precedents some recommendations were proffered which included but were not limited to; the Federal Ministry of Health seeking the guidance of the Authority in matters related to the import, storage and use of ionizing radiation in the health sector and on the Authority’s part a heartfelt call to organize a Stakeholder meeting on radiotherapy practice to present the report and launch the Code of Radiotherapy Practice whilst liaising with stakeholders of radiotherapy centers. Seminar presented by Isa Sambo, Saiyadi Sulaiman, Ogwuche John A, Hassan Abdullahi Adamu John Dahua