Doctors in UE attend to clients on humanitarian grounds

Story: Benjamin Xornam Glover, Bolgatanga A visit to the Bolgatanga Regional Hospital on the first day of a nationwide strike called by the leadership of Doctors and Pharmacists revealed that these health workers were at post rendering services, albeit on humanitarian grounds During a visit of the hospital, almost all the consulting rooms were occupied and clients were seen waiting their turn to see the doctors and physician assistant on duty. The Bolgatanga Regional Hospital as a total of five doctor population and two pharmacists, a situation expects say is far below standard. Some patients at the Out-Patient Department who spoke to the Daily Graphic praised the workers for opting to continue working and supporting health care delivery. “Ours is a peculiar region. We are severally disadvantaged when it comes to the availability of doctors and other critical health workers. I want to believe that is why it becomes so difficult for the few medical doctors here to completely shut their doors to us. We salute them” said Mr Benjamin Nsor at the Out –Patient Department of the Regional Hospital in Bolgatanga, who also indicated he shares in the doctors call for better conditions of service. Another patient, who gave her name as Cynthia said she reported to the hospital with a waist problem but thankfully, she had been seen by a doctor and given the appropriate prescription to receive drugs from the hospital’s pharmacy. He however pleaded to government to ensure that the demands of the health workers are met so that they will continue to serve the people of the region In a related development, the Regional Health Directorate has indicated that some contingency plans are in place to ensure services are not disrupted and minimize the impact on patients should the strike action becomes more intense. The Regional Director of Health Services, Dr. John Koku Awoonor-Williams who said this when the Upper East Regional Minister, Alhaji Limuna Mohammed-Muniru called on him at discussed the effects of the strikes on medical service delivery was optimistic that doctors will continue to see patients who need care. “Honestly in the Upper East Region, even tough, there have been a series of strikes in the past; we have always managed the situation. We have the full understanding and support of the medical team, be they doctors, nurses and pharmacists, mainly due to the critical situation the region finds it self in and we hope to count on that cooperation” he said. He said some of the staff at the regional health directorate are on standby and when the situation becomes critical they will be deployed to support the Medical Superintendents and the Cuban Medical Brigade in the various districts. “For the pharmacists, we are going to relay on pharmacy technicians to support by if the situation becomes too critical, for all OPD cases, we will write prescriptions and ask patients to purchase the drugs outside the facilities while we serve only in patients”, Dr Awoonor-Williams said. He said generally, the region lacks many critical staff of all grades including doctors, nurses midwifes, pharmacists and Technicians. He added that each district hospital is solely manned by a medical superintendent and with the help of the Cuban Medical Brigade and that long term plan for the region put in place a well structured motivational package to attract more medical workers into the region. The Upper East Regional Minister, Alhaji Limuna Mohammed-Muniru commended the Regional Health Directorate for being proactive and putting together an action plan to handle the situation during this crisis period. He urged the health authorities not to hesitate to contact the Regional Coordinating Council for any form of support to ensure health care does not grind to a halt while government engage the doctors and pharmacists to address the differences. -End- Benjamin.glover@ygraphic.com.gh