Posted on: Tue 19-03-2024

To mark its second anniversary, Duchess International Hospital has conducted a week-long cardiac surgery mission aimed at delivering subsidised, affordable “open-heart surgery” to a total of nine patients who would not otherwise have been able to afford the full cost of complex heart surgery.

At a media event to commemorate the Day, the Chief Executive Officer of the Duchess International Hospital, Dr Adetokunbo Shitta-Bey who explained that the patients had a variety of life-threatening heart diseases, said Duchess has been working on this landmark initiative in collaboration with Friends of Nigeria Save-A-Heart Foundation, United Kingdom.  

He explained that the combined team of 22 highly trained and experienced specialist professionals comprising cardiac perfusionists, theatre practitioners, intensive care nurses, cardiac anaesthetists and interventional cardiologists was made up of 11 highly skilled professionals from the Duchess International Hospital and 11 members of the Save-A-Heart Foundation visiting team from the United Kingdom.

Led by Dr Bode Falase, Professor of Cardiac Surgery and Coordinator of the Duchess Cardiac Surgery Programme, and Dr Onyii Nzewi, Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast and founder of the Save-A-Heart Foundation, the combined team successfully performed a total of nine open heart surgery procedures, each lasting several hours, over five days.

The Chief Executive restated the hospital’s mission to reverse medical tourism and its commitment to institutional collaboration and cooperation to achieve good patient outcomes and global evidence-based practice standards.

He said the hospital is working closely with institutions and professionals globally to attract the “brightest and the best” talent to offer their expertise to Nigeria, while at the same time investing in training and development to build capacity locally for the benefit of patients at home. He said: “This is one of how we are offering global best practices in medical services right here in Nigeria while simultaneously reducing medical tourism and capital flight.”  

The Head of the UK Medical Mission, Dr Onyii Nzewi said Save-A-Heart Foundation is pleased to collaborate with Duchess International Hospital to provide affordable open-heart surgery to restore hope and bring smiles to numerous individuals and families who have lived with the effects of complex heart disease and cardiovascular conditions for a very long time.

Nzewi commended the management of Duchess Hospital, Ikeja for providing a world-class medical environment for Nigerians. He remarked that the team, working with their counterparts at the Duchess International Hospital, achieved this landmark objective through a combination of highly skilled expertise and cutting-edge medical infrastructure available specifically for cardiac surgery at the Duchess International Hospital.

Commenting on Save-A-Heart Foundation’s highly successful collaboration with the Duchess International Hospital, Professor Falase said the partnership has helped tremendously to foster collaboration across medical institutions both within and outside Nigeria.

He commended the team for their professionalism and congratulated them on achieving a hitch-free cardiac surgery programme with a success rate of 100 per cent.

Some of the beneficiaries of the programme who spoke at the media event expressed their appreciation to Duchess International Hospital and Save-A-Heart Foundation for providing them with the opportunity to live a normal life again.

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