Healthcare workers have therefore sounded the alarm, highlighting the urgent need for more space and resources to address the growing demands of a large population.
“We don’t even have space for the babies,” says Mrs. Afia Ofori-Atakorah, Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer in charge of Child Health and Maternal, CCTH.
She said this on Monday when she toured the department with members of the Health Committee of Parliament on Monday.
It was a day’s working visit by the Committee members as a mop-up exercise of earlier oversight visits to health facilities in the country.
She said, “The mothers themselves have to stay with the babies 24 hours a day, but we don’t have the space to accommodate them.”
Mrs. Ofori-Atakorah made the revelation on Monday when the Health Committee of Parliament paid a day working visit to CCTH in the central region.
She mentioned limited cubicles and equipment exacerbating the situation as some of the major challenges.
“We have one ventilator, but the space is not sufficient to use it effectively, and providing kangaroo mother care is retarded,” explained Mrs. Ofori-Atakorah.
To address these challenges, healthcare workers in the department advocated for more space and resources, adding that “We need to optimize bed allocation, explore space-saving solutions, and prioritize patient needs,” said the officer in charge.
She, however, noted some potential solutions, such as implementing lean design principles, utilizing technology, and collaborating with stakeholders.
“By working together, we can identify creative solutions to space constraints and improve baby-mother care,” she noted.
“The stakes are high, and the need for action is urgent. We can’t provide adequate care in these conditions. We need change, and we need it now,” she appealed.
Dr. Mark Kurt Nawaane, the Chairman of the Health Committee of Parliament, while calling for collaboration to address the identified crisis, also called for the needed attention to be accorded the department to save the babies in terms of spacious, improved infrastructure to ensure that patients received the care they needed.
GNA
