Many public health facilities have been compelled to cope with the fallouts from a software shutdown.
The previous days of physical folders have returned with patients clutching exercise books which contain their medical records.
The frustration being endured by both patients and medical personnel as a result of the challenge is evident.
At the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra, management has directed personnel of all departments to prepare for the adoption of an independent Information Technical system to replace the shutdown of the Lightwave Health Information Management System (LHIMS). Until then, however, the challenges posed by the LHIMS shutdown persists.
Reports from the Ashanti Region indicate that doctors and nurses have returned to taking medical records in folders and exercise books after the electronic health platform for taking medical history shutdown for the past week, a situation which is delaying medical care delivery, thereby putting patients’ lives on the line as health workers compulsorily resort to the manual system.
The LHIMS is a web-based software platform which supports healthcare delivery and administrative functions.
Over the course of the week, major public health facilities have witnessed long, winding queues of patients seeking critical care after a digital platform for taking medical records broke down.
A visit to some health facilities in the Ashanti Region revealed many patients in frustration and anxiety as their lives hung on the thread, according to a JoyFM report.
At the Ejisu Government Hospital, patients were seen wielding folders in a queue to seek medical attention.
Their healthcare officers buried their heads in the folders to write their medical data, process which had been replaced with the information technology-enhanced system.
A disease control officer, whose task includes tracking disease trends, said that “we have not been able to do our work since the shutdown because the data is not being received. The system does not open.”
A frustrated patient said at a health facility, “I came here around 7 a.m. and after waiting in long queues, I have now been served. If I knew this was the situation, I would have gone to a private facility.”
The situation has been similar at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital and Suntreso Government Hospital, according to a JoyFM report.
Health officers reportedly resorted to writing in exercise books, presenting a physical discomfort to the frontline workers and a financial burden on management.
Some facilities confirm losing medical data records of patients since 2023.
Many of them are now desperately seeking alternatives to ease the burden.
Management of the Manhyia Government Hospital, after enduring a week of the discomforting situation, has found an alternative digital platform which has reportedly reduced the long queues.