An early start this morning, well at least for me, Femi was meant to pick me up by 07.30. It was his turn to be late and struggle to get up (at least it’s not just me). We were heading to Ketu to appear on the morning breakfast show of Mr Femi Sowoolu, at Radio Continental 102.3fm. I was slightly nervous as I’m not one for public speaking (no really I’m not!). As we arrived Femi Sowoolu was outside to meet us, he recognised me from facebook (and maybe due to the fact I was the only white woman in the car park). Femi had seen the ‘event’ on facebook (for those not on facebook an event is a way of advertising, something that you are doing or involved in, this was ‘Watts going to Nigeria’) and had contacted me to invite me onto his show.
We received a warm welcome and was shown inside to a board room, and waited to be called for our slot in the programme. Someone came and got us and we headed towards the studio, we sat down and mikes were adjusted and we got straight into business. Femi was very kind and gentle with me and welcomed me to Nigeria and gave an introduction to who I was and why I’m here. He went on to ask if I was enjoying my stay, had I been worried or nervous about my trip, if my family had concerns, what did I think of the people, what did I think about the state of health here etc. He then spoke about the charity and about how it came about with Dr Femi. Who was obviously able to go into more detailed answered than me about the Wish for Africa charity.
We then had several callers asking questions and all being very generous with their praise towards us. The callers were thankfully answered by Dr Femi with the odd grunt of agreement from me. Someone asked how they could contact wish for Africa so Femi gave his mobile number, web site and email details. By the time the show was over and we had got into the car, there were already several missed calls.
This broad casting company is still fairly new but also does TV as well as radio, this is something that Femi had hoped to get into. He had previously had a show on a Nigerian channel in London and did a Doctors chat programme, inviting people along to talk about issues and current events etc. It was left that we may be invited back for a TV slot, but also seemed promising for the future and Femi’s plans. After our ‘five minutes of fame’ we headed back to the reality of why we are here, the clinic in Ketu.
Unfortunately the doctor was not there as it was a quiet day but we spoke to the staff and I pick out three sets of notes to audit. These notes as with the ones from Mafoluku were not up the UK standards and the problems I could see were similar in both areas. I made a few notes and am in the process of writing some guidelines for them to adhere to, to help improve there practice. This is not an easy or pleasant task as I don’t enjoy being negative about what people do. The issue is there is not a huge amount to be positive about, but too much change at once will not go down well, so I have to be choosy on what changes I ask them to make and at what pace new practices are encouraged.
Whilst we were there a couple of patients came in to see the Doctor, as he wasn’t there Dr Femi saw them as to not waste their journey. I sat in on the consultation and was even asked for my opinions (I think they thought that I was a Doctor too! even though I had been introduced as a midwife from the UK). One of the problems with note keeping became apparent in these general practise notes (these were not obstetric patients), highlighting to general bad practice of not recording details efficiently. This didn’t lead to any serious problem, but this patient had to be asked to return when the resident GP was there, assuming he would be able to recall from memory the omitted details.
The problem in part is due to the fact, you often don’t know you don’t know something until you’re shown it or taught it. As a student some mentors would get annoyed with you if you didn’t do or write certain things, I would stand confused at why they would expect me to realise things that were alien to me, that I hadn’t been shown. This is the same sort of thing on a larger scale. If no one has pointed out the importance of doing something or the possible consequences of omitting information, why would they know? If things are not audited or poor outcomes are not investigated and lessons learned from them, or they have just been ‘lucky’ and had no repercussions, why should they feel practice needs alteration?
These are just a few of the issues that I need wisdom on how to approach, so if anyone reading this wishes to pray for specific things please add this to your pray list!
We received a warm welcome and was shown inside to a board room, and waited to be called for our slot in the programme. Someone came and got us and we headed towards the studio, we sat down and mikes were adjusted and we got straight into business. Femi was very kind and gentle with me and welcomed me to Nigeria and gave an introduction to who I was and why I’m here. He went on to ask if I was enjoying my stay, had I been worried or nervous about my trip, if my family had concerns, what did I think of the people, what did I think about the state of health here etc. He then spoke about the charity and about how it came about with Dr Femi. Who was obviously able to go into more detailed answered than me about the Wish for Africa charity.
We then had several callers asking questions and all being very generous with their praise towards us. The callers were thankfully answered by Dr Femi with the odd grunt of agreement from me. Someone asked how they could contact wish for Africa so Femi gave his mobile number, web site and email details. By the time the show was over and we had got into the car, there were already several missed calls.
This broad casting company is still fairly new but also does TV as well as radio, this is something that Femi had hoped to get into. He had previously had a show on a Nigerian channel in London and did a Doctors chat programme, inviting people along to talk about issues and current events etc. It was left that we may be invited back for a TV slot, but also seemed promising for the future and Femi’s plans. After our ‘five minutes of fame’ we headed back to the reality of why we are here, the clinic in Ketu.
Unfortunately the doctor was not there as it was a quiet day but we spoke to the staff and I pick out three sets of notes to audit. These notes as with the ones from Mafoluku were not up the UK standards and the problems I could see were similar in both areas. I made a few notes and am in the process of writing some guidelines for them to adhere to, to help improve there practice. This is not an easy or pleasant task as I don’t enjoy being negative about what people do. The issue is there is not a huge amount to be positive about, but too much change at once will not go down well, so I have to be choosy on what changes I ask them to make and at what pace new practices are encouraged.
Whilst we were there a couple of patients came in to see the Doctor, as he wasn’t there Dr Femi saw them as to not waste their journey. I sat in on the consultation and was even asked for my opinions (I think they thought that I was a Doctor too! even though I had been introduced as a midwife from the UK). One of the problems with note keeping became apparent in these general practise notes (these were not obstetric patients), highlighting to general bad practice of not recording details efficiently. This didn’t lead to any serious problem, but this patient had to be asked to return when the resident GP was there, assuming he would be able to recall from memory the omitted details.
The problem in part is due to the fact, you often don’t know you don’t know something until you’re shown it or taught it. As a student some mentors would get annoyed with you if you didn’t do or write certain things, I would stand confused at why they would expect me to realise things that were alien to me, that I hadn’t been shown. This is the same sort of thing on a larger scale. If no one has pointed out the importance of doing something or the possible consequences of omitting information, why would they know? If things are not audited or poor outcomes are not investigated and lessons learned from them, or they have just been ‘lucky’ and had no repercussions, why should they feel practice needs alteration?
These are just a few of the issues that I need wisdom on how to approach, so if anyone reading this wishes to pray for specific things please add this to your pray list!
wooooo my mums famous like me now :)
ReplyDeleteMe for selling snow on ebay, you for doing your midwife thing :) lol
Nice one mum :) x x
You have an amazing way of reaching out to people, just think someone noticing your facebook event has led to you being on Nigerian radio! You wouldnt have thought it, but God does more than we ask or imagine...
ReplyDeleteI think people's responsiveness to change often depends on the attitude of the person who points out the need for change, and I pray you have the grace to bring changes that are ultimately founded on love and honouring towards those who receive it, and I bet your relationships with staff go a long way to that happening :) xxx
Amen to what Mich said.
ReplyDeleteYou are really doing great stuff out there jo, missing youu loads, xxx will certainly pray for those things Kate