The pain of negligence and general lack of care by some health professionals, causing the loss of human lives is worrying, especially in the
wake of reports of many avoidable deaths at some health facilities.
The loss
of precious human lives who visit hospitals, hoping to receive attention, get
relief or cure and healing from their maladies, cannot be compensated in any
form.
It is even
disheartening to see that human lives are wasted, because some health workers
were just unwilling to be proactive, as a result of one or two reasons.
Sometimes it has to do with malfunctioning machines or the unavailability of
some medicines or machines at the time of need.
HEALTH PROBLEM
There is
no doubt Ghana’s Health System is facing several challenges, including a
serious backlog of arrears owed health facilities by the National Health
Insurance Authority. Some have to do with the retention and adequate
motivation for staff, high cost of operating health facilities and the attitude
problem which is affecting quality health care delivery in the country.
In fact, the Government has reneged on its promise to make the payment of
National Insurance premium a onetime affair. However, the Government's move in
investing in health infrastructure, whereas critical things concerning the
sustenance of quality health system, sustainable health insurance, as well as
ensuring patient safety and confidence in the care given are lacking, cannot be
overemphasised.
RESPONSIBILITY OF CAREGIVERS
Falling sick is an
unpleasant experience and nobody loves being sick? From the look on the faces of patients, it interesting to observe that nobody ever plans to endure the pains of falling sick.
Yet the reality is that we all sometimes fall sick once or twice to warrant
ones visit to the hospital.
It is nauseating but an uncomfortable moment one have
to endure. And if our health facilities cannot do anything to lessen our pains,
then it has no business to worsen our plights.
It is a worrying
phenomenon that all over the world, millions of people die when assessing
health care at the various health facilities. Some causes being negligence by
health caregivers, wrong medication to patients, lack of attention, arrogance
and impatience in attending to the needs of health seekers and a carefree attitude
among caregivers.
If hospitals or health
facilities are established to take care of the health needs of patients,
then their core mandate and business must be to give authentic care to patients at all times. This is their duty and anything below this is unhealthy
and deadly.
SAFETY OF HUMAN LIFE
That a healthy people ensures a robust and resilient economy, means Ghanaians health providers and stakeholder involved in health care delivery must place higher premium on human life.
To guarantee the
safety of human life at our hospitals, health workers have a responsibility to
show love, respect, and dignity to the patients.
In the spirit of giving high
value to caregiving venture, all health workers must show compassion and
courtesy to all their clients, no matter their status. This way, our health
system will mirror not just only a respected service delivery but will be a
true and complete healing centre for all.
ADDRESSING THE ATTITUDE PROBLEM
With the noble intent of saving lives, health workers
have seen the pains in people’s eyes. They have even witnessed the death of
many and will even see many more. But that the health facilities are in business of offering care, it is my plea that health workers respect the patients
and show compassion to them.
Our attitudes must change towards the people we
serve. Our caregivers must be unique and help us sustain the gains we have
made as a people. Health workers have a duty to demonstrate the goodwill that
our health system is one of the best.
Interestingly, like the voter, every day the patient who
visit health facilities are becoming enlightened by the minutes, due to the
availability of information on the internet. This should make health workers
take the services their delivering seriously in order to guard against
medico-legal issues that may arise from one or two mistake.
Health workers must bear in mind that the patient you
treated yesterday will not be the same patient you will be treating today or
tomorrow. They are learning fast, and are aware of their rights and they can
sue any health worker and health facility for negligence.
