By Hafsa Obeng, GNA
Accra, July 17, GNA
– The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has launched its Employee Health and
Well-Being Programme (EHAWP) to help improve the health of staff and enhance
productivity in the workplace.
The programme, which
would start from the GHS headquarters, and eventually to the regions,
reinforces the commitment of the Service to improve the wellbeing as well as
the productivity and performance of its staff.
Dr Gloria Quansah Asare, Deputy Director
General, GHS, said the promotion of health at work was about empowering and
enabling all people at work to have the chance to live healthy lives.
This, she said, can be achieved by being up to
date with latest developments and constant review of existing practices and
standards.
She said protecting
workers was not a luxury to be sacrificed and employee health and wellbeing was
an engagement and a responsibility which could add value and give new impetus
to a process of generating sustainable development and at the same time
successful service deliveries.
Dr Quansah Asare
said the Service had set out to provide and prudently manage comprehensive and accessible
quality health service in accordance with approved national policies, with the
goal to have a healthy population that has universal access to quality health
services, including themselves.
She said as a sector they were implementing
various activities towards the attainment of Universal Health Coverage and the
SDGs by the year 2030, and yet many health workers were confronted with health
issues from diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, obesity among others.
“As health service providers, we cannot take
effective care of others when we ourselves fail to take good care of ourselves.
We need to take a critical look at the conditions and environment under which
our staff work, hence the introduction of EHAWP.”
She said there was the need to work together
to cultivate a safe and healthy work environment as it formed the basis for a
more productive and engaged workforce through shared commitment of management
and employees in every unit of the Service.
Dr Quansah Asare commended hardworking health
professionals for their enormous contribution towards the substantial progress
made in the health sector in spite of numerous constraints confronting their
work, adding that the GHS was committed and was making every effort to improve
and maintain a healthy workforce.
“Through this effort, the Service has closely
worked with the Ministry of Health to develop the occupational health and
safety policy and guidelines for the health sector, aimed at promoting and
preventing ill health among its staff, so the Service as a whole can function
to its maximum.
She also implored health workers particularly
those in the public health sector who show disrespect in the performance of
their duties to desist from it as it tended to tarnish the image of the health
sector.
“We must be mindful of the peculiarity of your
profession and be guided at all times by the Patient Charter and Code of
Conduct. We need to ensure that the negative perceptions by sections of the
public are corrected by making frantic efforts to improve customer care and
client satisfaction.”
Dr Car S. Osei, Programme Manager,
Occupational and Environmental Health Unit, said employees of the heath sector
worked in potentially hazardous work environment, where they were often exposed
to a wide range of hazards, including, physical, chemical, biological and
economic hazard relating in work related ill-health including injury, or death.
He said the
promotion of a safe and healthy work environment for the health sector employee
was important, and this programme would serve as a vehicle for delivering a
more holistic package of interventions aimed at promoting not only employee
health and safety but also well-being.
He said the concept
of well-being has to do with positive emotions and moods and happiness at work
place, with the absence of negative emotions, anxiety, stress and depression.
Dr Osei said the
programme would combine both the concepts of well-being and health, which would
follow a continued improvement cycle, to improve the quality of life and productivity
of workers.
He noted that the
programme was an ethical thing to do and organizations that failed to provide
‘heal thy work environment’ left the employees, their family and public with
undue risk and human suffering, whereas adhering to such principles increases
long term productivity of services.
“This programme if
well supported can provide avenues for addressing not only the huge burden of
diseases but also risk factors, economic, emotions and job satisfaction.”
GNA