Radiographer’s board seals x-ray units of 5 hospitals

The Radiographers Registration Board of Nigeria (RRBN) has sealed the x-ray units of five hospitals in Imo State.

A statement from the board said the hospitals were Amanda Hospital, Owerri, O/C Medical and X-Ray Services at Works Layout , Owerri; Holy Rosary Hospital, Emekuku, Christina Hospital, Egbu and Mothercare Diagnostic Centre on Okigwe Road, Owerri.

Registrar and chief executive officer of the board, Mr Michael Okpaleke said the board clamped down on the hospitals to rid radiography practice of quacks.

He said the board was determined to remove quacks from the practice of medical radiography in the country and would not stop till it succeeded, adding that the mission of the board was to monitor and regulate activities of personnel who administer x-rays to ensure they are qualified.

He explained that patients may contact cancer if they received x-rays from people who were not qualified.

“It is the right of patients to see the operational license of the person administering x-rays to them to ascertain if he or she is qualified before he carries out the x-ray,” he said.

Okpaleke added that the board did not just stop at sealing the poorly-equipped x-ray units in the hospitals but also arrested some impostors who had been working as radiographers at the units.

He said the centres were operating with quacks in unprotected environment which posed health hazard to both the person operating the x-ray machine and the patients.

While promising to ensure that the impostors were prosecuted, he advised hospitals and centres wishing to render x-ray services to register with the board for effective monitoring.