INTRODUCTION:
Historical Background On assumption of duty in October 2006, Prof Akin Osibogun, the newly appointed Chief Medical Director of LUTH, directed a reconstitution of the LUTH SERVICOM Committee. This Committee had been ably headed by Dr Kemi Longe-Peters until she was appointed the Director of the National SERVICOM Office in Abuja. The Committee’s mandate was to implement the Tertiary Health Institutions Service Delivery and Quality Care as formulated by the Federal Ministry of Health and positively impact the LUTH workforce to achieve sustainable quality assurance. At a meeting in January 2007, the Prof Christopher Bode, a Consultant Paediatric Surgeon was appointed the SERVICOM Nodal Officer for LUTH. Other members of the Servicom Committee were Mr B Grillo, Head, Corporate Services, Chief Nursing Officer (Mrs) AT Adejugbe, Mrs TO Ladenika (Pharmacy) Mr OS Alabi (Engineering Services) Mr DB Oderinde Environmental Health and Mr U Emekwue (Laboratory Services). The present members of the LUTH Servicom are:

It became apparent that for the Servicom concept to succeed in LUTH, it must be understood and accepted as a user-friendly working tool by all stakeholders. The Committee therefore spent time identifying key interface points between service-providers and clients of LUTH, synthesizing the different requirements of patients and likely bottlenecks where the Servicom Committee and its message might be most useful. Since inception, this model of interaction has been strengthened with constant meetings with departmental heads, members of staff and others to familiarize workers with the compliance requirements of Servicom.

The Lagos University Teaching Hospital was established in 1962 by an act of Parliament to serve as a teaching hospital and research facility to the newly established College of Medicine of the University of Lagos while providing tertiary medical service to the Lagos Mainland community where it was situated. The pioneering team created a reputable set of sustainable standards in keeping with the Hospital’s Vision of providing excellent tertiary care of international standard. Thus two generations of accomplished specialists played prominent roles in the pursuit of excellence within this great edifice in the sixties and seventies. The LUTH brand had long enjoyed enormous appeal, synonymous with last-resort refuge for patients in extremis. It guaranteed salvage from diverse ailments for a population of over 30 millions within Lagos neighboring states and countries, the largest such clientele-base in West Africa. LUTH accepts more tertiary care-related referrals than any other hospital in Nigeria. When medical specialists brain-drained out of many neighboring states in the mid-80s and early 90s, LUTH remained a bastion of surgical excellence as the hospital remained well staffed and resourced and continued to render qualitative service in all disciplines. The hospital therefore experienced little if any major disruptions in staffing during the tumultuous years of emigration of skilled manpower to the Gulf States. The land and purpose-built infrastructure, earlier earmarked for the Mainland General Hospital, were converted into an enormous estate for the newly established LUTH in 1962. This multi-billion Naira, 600-bed facility ranks with the oldest of its kind in this country in size and scope. The likes of such projects not feasible anywhere in West Africa now or in the near future. LUTH has always attracted a large pool of talented specialists in various medical and surgical disciplines, nursing and allied medical professions as well as support staff who provide inpatient care to people requiring close medical monitoring and outpatient care to those in need of treatment but not constant medical attention. They work in a well coordinated manner to provide diagnosis and medical treatment of physical and mental health problems, surgery, rehabilitation, health education programs, nursing and physician training. This is partly because the innate individual and corporate wealth within the city has enabled some degree of patients’ affordability of specialist treatment in both private and public institutions. The Teaching Hospital is sponsored by the Federal Government for both recurrent and capital expenditures through regular subvention thus allowing for discounted pricing of sundry services to patients on who doctors are trained.