Teaching hospitals in the country are working on their online presence to attract patients and keep up to international standard.
According to the Federal Ministry of Health, there are 20 teaching hospitals across the country. However, a peep into the websites of some of them on Monday revealed attempts by their managements to sell themselves to the online community.
With its green and white background as well as legible print, the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi Araba welcomes visitors to its site. The site, designed by Zeedlabs Systems, boasts a health education blog, a button or booking appointment online, a virtual support team, among others.
Pictures of its facilities and equipment and information about its services are also prominent features. The hospital also seems compliant with the digital generation with links to its Facebook and Twitter accounts.
Perhaps, the hospital’s unique selling point is its transplant service, which is conspicuously displayed on the site.
“LUTH has its first successful transplant in 2007 and ever since has been carrying out series of transplant. This service is available to interested patients with 100 per cent success rate,” says the hospital. However, it appears that all is not well with the site. The latest medical news posted on it was almost three months ago when it hosted a Basic and Advanced Life Support Training, while a mail sent by our correspondent to its online support team seeking help had yet to be acknowledged as of 8 pm production time on Monday.
Unlike LUTH, it appears the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital is neither into a wordy webpage nor fancy colours. Its tiny prints, however, means that many visitors may need medicated glasses to read stories on it.
The hospital appears to have a minimalist approach to digital content with basic highlights on its services and departments. There is a personal word from Dr. Peter Alabi, its Chief Medical Director, a request button and links to its other social media accounts.
However, it is curious that the training week of the Medical Association of Nigerians Across Great Britain, which held in June, some five months ago, remains a breaking news item on the site.
Moving down south, the Obaemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, Ile-Ife, dubs itself a baby-friendly hospital online. However, that niche is not immediately supported by pictures or texts it presents.
But it seems the hospital is most proud of its laparoscopic surgery, whose story is displayed conspicuously in the latest news segment of the site. Laparoscopic surgery is a modern technology which makes use of very small opening or keyholes to perform operations on the abdomen of patients.
“At the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Complex, Ile-Ife, laparoscopic surgery for general surgical conditions was commenced in 2008. The facilities were acquired over time and expertise was developed such that from early 2010, laparoscopic surgery is routinely performed in the hospital. We made a number of improvisations and local adaptations that enabled us to sustain the development and practice of laparoscopic surgery in our hospital. Two hundred patients, including children, have been successfully operated for general surgical abdominal conditions,” it says.
Finding the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital online was not immediately successful. However, a Facebook account, which appeared to belong to the hospital, was last updated in 2012 with an event was billed to hold at the Pharmacy Conference Hall.
Meanwhile, only a few of the newly inaugurated ministers have sustained their online presence after their swearing-in ceremony. The few who do have also been silent on their work load and agenda. Rather, the likes of the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, and his counterpart in Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, posted messages on leadership and patriotism on their pages.
By: Folashade Adebayo
Punch News
ABUJA: Training Schedule for Basic Life Support BLS, Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support ACLS, First Aid, CPR, AED
PORTHARCOURT: Training Schedule for Basic Life Support BLS, Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support ACLS, First Aid, CPR, AED
LAGOS: Training Schedule for Basic Life Support BLS, Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support ACLS, First Aid, CPR, AED
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