The Ghana Health Sector Emergency Dilemma
The Ghana health sector emergency dilemma did not start today. It has been an existing problem for the country’s health services for time immemorial. The issue is, just how is this going to be resolved permanently.
In the month of June, an intereting case ensued when the The Minister of Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, suspended the CEO of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), Dr. Paa Kwesi Baidoo.
The reason for the suspension according to the Minister was because the CEO had announced a temporary suspension of new emergency admissions due to congestion. The number of emergency cases that were coming to the hospital were beyong that which it could handle.
In an attempt to safeguard a situation that would be beyound staff and management, the CEO decided to announce the suspension of new emergency admissions.
This directive however did not go down well with the minister because it directly violated a presidential directive not to turn away emergency patients.
There are other schools of thought that believe that the suspension was too harsh and needless because after the presidential directive, there was no alternative provided to handle such situations.
The announcement of the suspension was on June 5. The next day, nurses and staff of the hospital decided to embark on a sit down demonstration in solidarity with their CEO. Patients and outpatients were turned away, and this affected hundreds of people who depend on the hospital for healthcare services. They claimed the suspension was unjustified since the CEO only acted in the interest of the hospital.
Following the brouhaha, the minister appeared in parliament and defended his decision, stating that the CEO had not been suspended as a medical officer, but from his administrative duties as a CEO of the hospital.
Several begwigs called on the staff to return to work for the sake of the suffering masses. The CEO himself began the call, this was followed by the Regional Minister, Dr. Frank Amoakohene. Dr. Amoakohene had met with senior staff and management and also appealed to them to return to work as the issue was being resolved.
This matter, raises a much more serious concern beyond the single incident.
It can be recalled that not long ago, there was a case that made news involving the sad passing away of a gentleman after he was turned away from a number of hospitals for lack of a bed. This brings to the fore a question that many professionals have raised over the years.
Will Ghana’s health sector ever be ready to handle the growing population.
Ghana’s bed to patient ratio, still calls for more and it does not look like the government’s health sector is ready to resolve the issue in the immediate. What has come to be known as the “no bed syndrome” has been on for years.
At the premier Korle-bu Teaching hospital, patients are almost always seen on mattresses on the floor while others are managed on benches in corridors whenever there are no beds. And with time, it is gradually becoming the norm.
Whenever there is a issue as it happened with the CEO, companies are seen coming to the aid of the hospitals to help minimize the effects of the “syndrome” by donating to some facilities. These donations, even though crutial and an important intervention are not enough to permanently resolve an age old problem.
The question still remains. Will the country ever get to the point where there will be enough beds to handle emergencies? Will there ever be a point in time where there will be enough emergency staff in each of the tertiary hospitals? Will Ghana overcome its healthcare challenges?
The more one asks these, the more the situation looks dark and gloomy. Only time will tell
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