Health care providers in
the country were entreated to ensure safety of patients at all times by
observing health safety regulation in the discharge of their duties.
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| Bishop Fianu |
Most Rev. Emmanuel Kofi
Fianu, Episcopal Chairman for Health at the National Catholic Secretariat,
urged health managers and workers, particularly those within the National
Catholic Health Service (NCHS) to exercise circumspection in their work to
prevent causing harm to patient seeking healthcare.
In order to reduce and avoid
the incidence of injury and death of patients in the course of treatment,
Bishop Fianu who doubles as the Catholic Bishop of Ho, noted that “any health system
that fails to take its regulation seriously is headed for patient safety
compromises, including irreparable harm and loss of life, which society will
not accept”.
The Bishop made the call at
the opening of the 15th Annual Conference of the National Catholic
Heath Service at Sunyani in the Brong Ahafo Region, on the theme: “Policy and
Regulations on Patient Safety in Ghana-Current and Future Outlook”.
He noted that regulation
may be simple protocols of dos and don’ts of workplace and service delivery,
and may be complex mechanisms for explaining diagnostic results among others.
He observed that that the
importance of regulations which could be a source of promoting good practice,
assures patients, who entrusts their whole being to the care of another in the
hope that an intervention will not harm them.
In calling on policy
makers to ensure even application of rules irrespective of ownership of health
facilities, Bishop Fianu, stressed the need for effective supervision and
monitoring to ensure that health workers complied with the rules governing their
work.
The Bishop advised the
Ministry of Health to rope in more health sector workers under the various
councils or laws, in order to effectively regulate the activities of those health
workers who fall outside the remits of the rules for health workers.
In a remark, Most Rev.
Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi, Bishop of Sunyani, who chaired the opening, observed that
patient safety was crucial in the healthcare system, urging Health Providers to
ensure the safety of unborn babies.
He entreated health
workers to be diligent in the provision of patient safety, since the patient
were becoming aware of their rights in the area of health care.
He said the era where
nurses looked on unconcerned when patients visited their facilities, whilst
they were on busy with their mobile phones ‘whatsapping’ and chatting with
friends was over, calling for more supervision to curtail these trend.
Mr. Peter K. Yeboah,
Executive Director of the Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG), noted
that with the commitment of the country in universal health coverage, national
health insurance system and community health planning and services, there was
the need for a robust and responsive patient safety oversight system at both
policy and regulatory levels.
He said Policy and
regulation on patient safety in Ghana constituted a call to action to improve
the quality of clinical care and strengthening the performance of health
system.
He stated that “safe and
quality healthcare delivery can be guaranteed when the right health
commodities, in the right quantities, in the right condition are delivered to
the right place at the right time for the right cost.”
Similarly, Rev. Msgr.
George Kwame Kumi, Vicar General of Sunyani Diocese urged health providers to
give serious attention to patient safety, stating that statistics about
patients who suffer injury during the cause of receiving treatment were
frightening and disturbing.
He called for the fixing
of CCTV cameras in all facilities and behavioral change among health
practitioners to ensure reduction in the incidence, adding that the disregard
of patients’ safety has fatal consequences for both the healthcare provider and
the clients.
Also, the immediate past
Episcopal Chairman for Health, Most Rev. Joseph Afrifah-Agyekum Immediate Past
Bishop commended the current Government for making efforts to pay part of the
National Health Insurance Scheme’s (NHIS) indebtedness to health facilities,
urging it to expedite action to settle the remaining debts.
He expressed the hope
that the Church will make strong input, in the event of re-introduction of the
Capitation policy so that the NCHS Clinics operating in the hard to access
areas were not short changed in the process.
In his address, Mr George
A. Adjei, Esq., Director of the NCHS, noted that they were strategising to
create centers of excellence to leverage on technology in health service
delivery.
To this end, he observed
that the NCHS was nurturing opportunities for using telemedicine and
information technological tools to improve health care delivery in the country.
He also announced that
the service would soon constitute a National Advisory Body on Biomedical
Engineering Services and another on Waste Management to undertake assessment of
basic and essential equipment in use at the various NCHS facilities in the
country and advice on what policy should be in place.
Whilst commending St.
Patrick and St. John of God Hospitals at Offinso and Sewi-Asafo respectively
for their exceptional performance on the Pool Procurement Programme, the
Director reported that the programme detected some counterfeit drugs which had
since been withdrawn from the system and the suppliers blacklisted.
Mr. Martin Obeng, DCE of
Sunyani West District commended the Catholic Church for its role in the provision
of health and Education in the country.
Dignitaries Present at
the ceremony were Nana Nyaama ll Paramount Queen Mother of Sunyani, Nana Kwaku
Sabin, priests and religious, political leaders and the All Saints Choir from
the Christ the King Cathedral, Sunyani.
