MOVES TO IMPROVE HEALTH TRAINING INSTITUTIONS IN UE (PAGE 40)

IN a bid to address the inadequate infrastructural needs of health training institutions in the Upper East Region, the Regional Health Directorate has developed a proposal to source a Kuwaiti government funding to expand and upgrade the four public health training schools.
The funds, when secured, will promote effective and efficient teaching and learning, as well as improve staffing levels in the health institutions in the region.
The Regional Director of Health Services, Dr John Koku Awoonor-Williams, disclosed this at the maiden joint matriculation ceremony for 662 students of five health training institutions in the region.
They are the Community Health Nurses Training School at Navrongo, the Health Assistants Training School at Zuarungu, the Midwifery Training School, the Nurses Training College and the Presbyterian Nurses Training College, all in Bawku.
Dr Awoonor-Williams said the infrastructure in all the schools did not support effective teaching and learning, adding that the poor and limited infrastructure also greatly affected the capacity to admit the required number of students.
He said, for instance, that the Midwifery Training School could not start the last academic year due to lack of classrooms and student hostels.
To help solve the problem, he appealed to district assemblies, district health administrations, the community, parents and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to take urgent steps to provide accommodation for students in their respective districts.
He urged the newly admitted trainees to eschew indiscipline and warned that the authorities would not hesitate to suspend and even dismiss students who fell foul of school regulations and the Ghana Health Service core values and nursing ethics.
Dr Awoonor-Williams said as a matter of policy, the professional training of nurses was incomplete without the one-year mandatory practical orientation of the newly qualified trainee and warmed that the authorities would not tolerate request from people in high places for the release of newly qualified nurses for posting to the southern parts of Ghana.
He said as a matter of policy, the region would admit 70-80 per cent students from the region and 20-30 per cent from outside the region to address the human resource needs of the region and appealed to the district directors of health and district assemblies in the region to help attract trainees through sponsorship.
The Deputy Upper East Regional Minister, Mrs Lucy Awuni, said a cursory look at the ratio of health professionals to patients in the region for 2008 painted a gloomy picture in terms of healthcare delivery.
She said while the ratio of medical officer to patient was 1:34,629, that of a professional nurse to patient was 1:5,177. Again, the ratio of midwife to patient was 1:4,203, while that of medical assistant to patient was 1:35,865.
She, therefore, appealed to health professionals posted to the region in particular to accept such postings and assist in the transformation of the region, since they were assured of the availability of adequate accommodation and other facilities to ensure their comfort.
The Deputy Registrar of the Nurses and Midwives Council, Mr Felix Nyante, who administered the matriculation oath, urged the trainees to abide by the oath and cautioned them against strikes upon joining the health service.
The President of the Conference of Heads of Health Training Institutions, Mr James Yambor, urged the government to extend the GETFund to health training institutions for the development and maintenance of essential academic facilities.