The participants at the conference
DEPUTY DIRECTORS of institutional care, medical directors and senior managers of health institution across the country have begun a five day conference to discuss ways to generate additional funds for the health sector.
Currently, government funds to the sector are inadequate to cover expenses and administration cost of the various hospitals in the country.
The conference, organised by the Institutional Care Division of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) would provide the platform for healthcare professionals in decision- making to deliberate on finding alternative funds to support the efforts of government.
The conference themed ‘Strengthening Clinical Services’ was also to discuss the current low quality of the clinical care some patients receive.
Minister of Health, Sherry Ayittey, in her remarks admitted that government funds to the sector was inadequate, adding that there was the need for medical directors to start planning on how to get external sources of funds to run their hospitals.
”Be innovative and search for local solutions to the many health problems. All healthcare professionals must come together to deliberate on how to finance healthcare,’ she stressed.
She said that many services could be combined to minimise parallel projects and also explained that it would be possible to privatise some services such as laundry and cleaning.
She also suggested the establishment of the health development facilities fund that would be used to support government budget and bring the private sector on board.
Touching on the state of clinical care in the various health institutions, she stated that ‘assessments by our clients for some time now have not been that positive.’
However, she explained, ‘The Ministry of Health has taken bold initiatives to improve efficiencies in the country’s hospitals.’
A key problem to be addressed is ‘no bed syndrome’ and Ms Ayittey remarked about lack of accommodation in general, for patients, nurses, staff and visitors but, ‘no hospital should ever turn someone away,’ she declared.
The Director of Institutional Care Division, Dr Samuel Kaba Akoriyea, added that it was important in the event of a mass disaster or epidemic that the hospitals have plenty of beds for patients as well as a trained medical emergency team to handle such situations.
He said that it was essential that at all stages of an emergency – detection, reporting, response, on-scene care, in-transit care, and in-hospital care – quality trained staff are there to help.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri & Sarah Jakubowski
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