Sunyani-Ghana, June 23, GNA – Dr Kwabena Kumi, Deputy Director, Clinical Care at the Bono Regional Directorate of Health Services, has warned health professionals in the region against providing sub-standard care for patients due to tiredness.
He emphasized that there was no legal framework that justified nurses, doctors, and other health personnel to administer sub-standard care to patients, apparently because “they are tired.”
Dr Kumi described such behaviour and attitudes among health professionals as unacceptable in the Ghana Health Service (GHS), saying those who would be found wanton would not be spared.
He was addressing a debriefing session on a disease outbreak simulation exercise organised by the Regional Directorate of Health in Sunyani.
The Directorate conducted the two-day exercise, which centred on cholera outbreak in selected health facilities in government and private hospitals, health centres and Community-based Health Planning Services (CHPS) Compounds in the Sunyani West Municipality.
It further enabled the Directorate to identify and tackle gaps, and thereby sharpened its skills of detecting diseases, saving lives and resources.
“When we are tired, we can make alternative arrangements for other colleagues to support us or sit in. Of course, that is not what the situation should be, but we all understand the situation,” Dr. Kumi stated.
“In our practice sometimes, we cut so much corners and this is what is affecting us in delivering quality healthcare service to our people,” he said.
Explaining the rationale behind the exercise, Dr George Kuma Khumalo, Bono Regional Biomedical Scientist, also the Exercise Instructor, said the Bono Region had been hit with several outbreaks including meningitis and cholera, saying the outbreak of COVID-19 exposed a lot of weaknesses in the health systems in the region.
He expressed concern about the lack of effective reporting and coordination between clinical and public health surveillance teams at the various simulation facilities which “is very bad in disease surveillance and control.”
Dr Khumalo also recommended intensified training on priority disease detection and reporting, as well as trained clinicians and public health teams on channels of reporting and coordination which remained critical in disease surveillance and control.
Dr Prince Quarshie, the Deputy Director, Public Health, Bono Regional Directorate of Health, and the Exercise Commander, lauded the exercise and expressed the hope that with more funding, it would be extended and sustained to help improve health outcomes in the region.
Mr Bernard Danso, a Representative of the World Health Organisation called on the Regional Health Directorate to endeavour to raise more funds locally to fund and sustain the simulation exercise.
