The Ghana Health Service (GHS) Governing Council has visited health facilities in Bongo.
The Council as part of its two day working visit to the Upper East Region first point of call was at the Bongo District Hospital.
The visit forms part of the council’s initiative to get close to the service delivery point to appreciate the challenges of the management, staff and patients for redress.
The Nationwide tour commenced with the maiden visit to the Eastern Region in January, 2018, following Central Region in March, 2018 and Volta Region in May, 2018.
At the meeting with the Management and Staffs of the Bongo Hospital, concerns raised by the Management and staff include lack of staff accommodation, poor roads leading to the health facility, health professionals refusing posting to the health facility leading to inadequate staffing and lack of ambulance.
The Bongo District Hospital has been functioning without a children’s ward since the facility got upgraded from a health centre to the status of a hospital over 15 years ago.
The situation has compelled management of the hospital to combine both women and children in one ward and hence the pairing of patients on the hospital beds.
Currently, two patients share one bed in the female ward of the hospital.
According to the medical superintendent, Dr. Williams Gudu, no additional infrastructure was added to the facility since it was upgraded except an x-ray block and a kitchen which have been added.
Aside these, the structure that housed patients when it was a health centre are the same structures the hospital still has. The 112 bedded district hospital takes care of the over 130 communities in the Bongo district.
This according to Dr. Gudu puts pressure on the facility especially during rainy seasons and yet the facility lacks the space to admit the appreciable number of patients that visit the hospital with cases that demand admission.
He said the health facility is riddled with severe challenges with regards to the unavailability of separate female and children’s ward but mentioned that they have no choice but to combine child patients and female patients in the same ward.
He said it is never their wish to pair their clients but the situation they have found themselves has compelled them to do so.
Bongo district per say is not too far away from the regional hospital and it is this small hospital that is 112 bedded that takes care of 134 communities in the Bongo district.
The Council responded to the concerns raised and commended the management and staff of the hospital for their commitment towards service delivery and the drastic reduction in maternal mortality rate in the hospital.
However, the chairman of the Governing Council of the GHS, Dr. Yao Yeboah appealed to health workers in the hospital to ensure customer care, good personal relationships with the patients. He encouraged them to focus much on effective primary health care service delivery.
Dr. Yao Yeboah said the visit is aimed at keeping themselves abreast with the issues affecting healthcare delivery across the country.
The Director General of GHS, Dr. Anthony Nsiah-Asare, assured the staff that measures are in place to address the accommodation, staffing and the ambulance issues. He indicated that continuous quality improvement should be a key in providing cost effective and efficient services. He advised the management to use internally generated funds efficiently and judiciously.
From Bongo Hospital, the team moved to Namoo Health centre where Ghana share border with Burkina Faso.
A nurse who is in charge of the health facility explained to the team how the foreigners patronised the health facility.
The members of the Governing Council of the GHS ended their tour in the Bongo District at Apowongo CHPs Compound.
Story by Samuel Ayammah
