WOYONGO VISITS UPPER EAST REGIONAL HOSPITAL (D/G, Thursday, April 2, 2009.PAGE 32)

INADEQUATE human resource, lack of certain basic facilities, poor residential accommodation for staff and erratic supply of utilities such as water and electricity are militating against the effective and efficient delivery of health services in the Upper East Region.
The Medical Director at the Upper East Regional Hospital in Bolgatanga, Dr Aduko Amiah, disclosed this during a visit by the Upper East Regional Minister, Mr Mark Woyongo, to the facility.
The visit was to afford the minister the opportunity to learn at firsthand some of the challenges facing the hospital, with the view to helping to solve them.
According to Dr Amiah, the hospital, which had a total bed capacity of 207, was currently manned by five Ghanaian doctors, including one on contract, with support from personnel from the Cuban Medical Brigade.
He said apart from the shortage of doctors, the facility lacked nurses and other allied health workers and support staff, saying it currently had 80 nurses out of the 250 required.
He attributed the shortage to the persistent refusal of medical officers to accept posting to the region as a result of the poor conditions of service.
“Doctors refuse posting to this place because of the absence of opportunities to make extra income, popularly referred to as locum, which abounds in the southern parts of Ghana,” he said.
Dr Amiah said those who accepted posting to the north were often forgotten and denied the opportunity to enjoy their full leave, let alone go for further professional development or even gain promotion.
The medical director, who has been in the region since 1986, said the few who were carrying the heavy load were becoming burnt out and that might be a contributory factor to the poor attitude shown by some health staff.
He, therefore, appealed to the government to put in place effective systems, such as practical incentive packages like personal income tax breaks to make for the loss of income from locum, free accommodation and utility services like water, telephone, electricity, fellowship and quicker promotions to attract doctors and other critical staff to accept posting to the region.
The Chairman of the hospital’s Advisory Board, Naba Asigri Bewong, said since the hospital served as a referral facility for the whole region, the board had tried in the past to meet with Members of Parliament from the region and municipal and district chief executives to solicit their support in resolving some of the challenges without success.
Naba Bewong, who is also the Paramount Chief of the Sakoti Traditional Area, stressed that several correspondence to that effect in the past had not yielded any positive response.
He appealed to the regional minister to arrange a forum for all sides to see how best they could support the hospital.
Mr Woyongo commended staff of the hospital for the immense role they had played in health delivery in the region, even under critical and trying conditions.
He said notwithstanding the challenges, the few dedicated staff were working tirelessly to improve health care in the area.
The regional minister was later conducted round some projects underway to upgrade the hospital. Facilities visited included the new OPD Block and the Maternity Block.