Clean Toilets, Quality Care: Why Lagos Health Commissioner Wants Patients to Check Hospital Restrooms
The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Professor Akin Abayomi, has urged residents to pay attention to three simple but important indicators whenever they visit a public health facility: the quality assurance seal, the health insurance desk, and perhaps most importantly, the condition of the hospital toilets.
According to the Commissioner, these three signs offer valuable clues about the standard of care patients can expect.
During an unscheduled visit to General Hospital, Odan, Lagos Island, Prof. Abayomi said he deliberately looked for three things immediately on arrival:
- The Health Facility Monitoring and Accreditation Agency (HEFAMAA) quality accreditation logo;
- A clearly marked Ilera Eko health insurance enrollment desk; and
- The condition of the public and patient toilets.
For the Commissioner, the state of a hospital’s restroom speaks volumes.
“If the toilets are clean, with running water and hand soap, the likelihood is that the hospital itself is clean,” he noted.
Health experts have long recognised environmental hygiene as one of the foundations of infection prevention and patient safety. Clean toilets reduce the spread of infectious diseases, improve patient confidence, and reflect good facility management.
Prof. Abayomi explained that all public hospitals and primary healthcare centres in Lagos are now undergoing the same rigorous accreditation process previously reserved for private hospitals.
“It would be hypocrisy to demand high standards from private hospitals without holding our public facilities to the same standards,” he said.
He also reminded Lagos residents that quality healthcare extends beyond infrastructure. Proper diagnosis remains essential.
The Commissioner warned against treating malaria without first conducting an approved diagnostic test, describing the practice as poor medical care that wastes patients’ money and contributes to antimicrobial resistance. He disclosed that sanctions would soon apply to facilities that continue to ignore the policy.
On healthcare financing, Prof. Abayomi encouraged residents to enrol in the Lagos State Health Insurance Scheme, Ilera Eko, noting that enrolment desks are now available in government health facilities to make registration easier.
He urged members of the public to actively monitor healthcare standards by reporting facilities that have yet to display the HEFAMAA accreditation logo or lack insurance enrolment desks, stressing that improving healthcare quality is a shared responsibility between government and citizens.
For patients, the Commissioner’s advice is simple: before seeing the doctor, look around. A recognised quality seal, an accessible insurance desk and a clean restroom may reveal more about a hospital than meets the eye.
