Take Critical Look at NHIS- Gov’t charged

Dignitaries and delegates at the function 

Most Rev. Matthias Kobena Nketsiah, Archbishop of the Cape Coast Archdiocese has entreated the Government to take a critical look at the National Health Insurance Scheme to ensure it paid the health facilities for services they have rendered.

He expressed worry about the situation where the Scheme owed the service providers over nine months in arrears, describing it as unfortunate, precarious and a disaster, which is derailing efforts of the facilities to provide quality healthcare.

The Archbishop stated that it was time the nation addressed the NHIS indebtedness to service providers to ensure quality healthcare delivery. “For once let’s stop being politically correct about everything in this country and tackle the challenges head-on” he reiterated.

Bishop Afrifah-Agyekum (with microphone) and other dignitaries. 

Archbishop Nketsiah made the remarks, during the opening of the 14^th Annual Conference of the National Catholic Health Services at Winneba in the Cape Coast Archdiocese. It was on the theme: “Health Commodities & Safety in Healthcare Delivery”.

In spite of the challenges their work, the Archbishop who chaired the function, health professional to continue being compassionate in reaching out to the sick.

Similarly, Most Rev. Joseph Afrifah-Agyekum, Bishop responsible for Health at the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference, stated the dire stress most of the Catholic health facilities were facing due to the delayed reimbursement.

Shedding light on the biting effects of health facilities in the rural setting, Bishop Afrifah-Agyekum said the NHIA has failed to show much commitment to sustain the Scheme and healthcare delivery. 

The Bishop questioned how the Scheme expected the health institutions to stock essential health commodities and honour their statutory payments, including salaries and contributions to SSNIT and offer quality healthcare delivery?

“There is urgent need for the Government to address this persistent issue of delayed provider reimbursement because its implication is too far reaching for quality of care and staff safety” Bishop Afrifah-Agyekum noted.

The Bishop called Government to consider reviewing the benefit package of the Scheme, and decouple the role of the regulator and buyer of services by the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), to remove fraud from the administration of the Scheme at all levels and ensure payment of realistic tariffs to providers.

He however added that the Church has not abandoned her intention to set up its own Scheme in view of the frustrations with the implementation of the NHIS, which threatens to limit Church health service in Ghana.  

Bishop Afrifah-Agyekum (middle) with Archbishop Nketiah,
with Fr Lazarous Anondee (S.G at NCS). 

As the country approaches the 2016 December polls, the Bishop charged health practitioners to be abreast with the happenings in their communities, so as to activate their emergency systems where necessary, even as they educate the public to value and maintain peace.   

In a homily prior to the opening, Bishop Afrifah-Agyekum urged health practitioners to be dedicated, more caring and loving in the discharge of their duties, entreating them not to make the quest of monetary gain overshadow their work of saving lives. “Your profession is a vocation and not just work” he stressed.  

Mr. Peter K. Yeboah, Executive Director of the Christian Health Services of Ghana, touching on the chronic delay in reimbursement of validated claims, expressed concern about NHIA, which instead of facilitating access to healthcare, was now a barrier to the availability, accessibility and affordability of health commodities.

“I wish to emphasise that the systematic delay in reimbursement is perpetuating social injustice and widening health inequalities by depriving our fellow citizens of appropriate health commodities for safe and quality healthcare delivery.”

He called for an immediate settlement of the outstanding debts owed the providers, entreating government to consider the proposed reforms to ensure the sustainability and efficiency of the Scheme. 

Mr George A. Adjei Esq., Director of National Catholic Health Service (NCHS), in an address shared some worrying situations some health facilities were facing, mostly due to the inability to stock relevant inputs for service delivery.

“The delayed payment of the NHIS with its attendant economic effects is making all our clinics struggle to keep their operations going, retool and expand,” he noted.  

He announced that the NCHS was focused on giving a new outlook to its services, in view of the changes in the global health arena and in the country.

In line with this, he said the Service has reviewed its vision statement (A Health Service that is best in meeting patient needs and expectation) and launched a new website during the function.

The Service, he said was also taking its branding seriously by highlighting the distinctive competencies, and urged the management and staff of Catholic health facilities to be particular about the colour schemes, environmental appearance, cleanliness, time of response and their desire to support quality health care delivery.

He mentioned that the Directorate was re-positioning to increase its support to the Arch/Dioceses and institutions to be more efficient, while exploring opportunities for sponsorship from partners to equip and enhance further training of staff.

How Safe is our STC?

The front view of the bus from Abidjan

The need to move from one place to the other and to transport goods to and fro, has created the need for transport services for people, by roads linking towns and various destination and by water or air. 
However the desire of every traveller aboard any means of transport is to get to their destination safely, without compromising their safety, comfort and the basic things that could cost their lives. 
The once famous Ghana’s State Transport Corporation, which trumpets this ideal in its motto: "We Take You There Safely", has sadly lost favour with majority of travellers, including yours sincerely. 
It was my hope and the hope of two colleagues of mine to have a wonderful and a comfortable ride back to Accra, after a late night ride from Yamoussoukro to Abidjan. We least expected the experience we had on the journey. 
In order not to miss the bus we arrived at the bus terminal two hours before time, secured our tickets and paid for our luggage, which were duly weighed before it was even 8:00 am. The goods on the ground were packed inside the load compartment of the bus, which appeared not too healthy for the journey. 

Over loading
After boarding the bus at 9:10, the personnel loading the bus, reopened the luggage compartments to rearrange and pushed more luggage, compressing and mishandling people's luggage. 

The aisle of the bus blocked by goods 

The aisle blocked  with goods

As if that was not enough, the personnel brought on board more goods which they packed on the floor of the aisle of the bus between the seats and under the seats. They hurriedly packed the rice bags, with several cartons of oil, among a collection of other personal effects that obstructed movement of passengers on board the bus. In fact, the Personnel loading the goods on the bus even blocked the second door at the rare of the bus which serves as an alternative entrance making the bus look like a messy trap. 

In the process they even damaged some luggage of passengers. 

Officials  of the Intercity STC turned a deaf ear to several complaints made by the passengers, who aired their displeasure about the excess load packed on the space between the seats. What even angered the passengers most was the seemingly lack of interest by the drivers and the bus conductor to even offer an explanation or an apology on why the goods were packed in the bus.
Upon further complaints by passengers, one of the Personnel loading the goods, who begged the passengers to be calm even worsened his case, when he offered a flimsy excuse that the goods would be offloaded at Takoradi. By this time, the bus had already started the journey 30 munities late than the Departure time.
   
Faulty Bus
After several trials to spark the Yutong bus, it finally started with the aid of about five mechanics.  It is true God made man and man-made machines hence the bus could break down at any moment but this bus with registration number GN 1023-11 looked sick and does not qualify to ply a distance as long as Abidjan, Accra- Abidjan. The seats looked unkempt and discoloured with dark-grey dirt stains. 

The bus being pushed by some passengers at Sekondi

Simply put, the bus was just unhealthy and unfit to embark on the long journey, but the drivers and manager(s) at Abidjan STC terminal seem not bothered to even make arrangement for a much healthier one.
The engine of the bus ceased at Sekondi near the Sekondi Central Prisons, causing an evening traffic around the Ketan Roundabout in the Western Region. It was an interesting scene, where the men on board the bus helped pushed the tired bus to a safer side of the road. If it were some other transport company, a different bus would have been called to convey the stranded passengers to their destination but it was a different story. There was not a single bus on standby at the Takoradi bus terminal so we had to wait on mechanics from the Takoradi station as they struggled to get the state coach move again. The bus had to crawl from Sekondi to Accra, using more travelling time and causing unnecessary uneasiness among the passengers.  We were supposed to get to Accra latest by 8pm that fateful day but we got to Accra after midnight.

Respect for Passengers

Beyond a good name, respect for one's clients is what helps organisations maintain their reputation.  There was one STC driver I once encountered on one of my trips from Kumasi to Accra, who introduced himself and greeted the passengers on board the bus. After praying with the passengers, he informed us of where and where the bus would stop, and added that we should not hesitate to alert him if any of us had a challenge.

That was the kind of service one passenger on board the bus from Abidjan to Accra on that fateful Tuesday 16th August 2016 misses. She reminisced how the good old STC was in the 80s when she started traveling with Ghana’s finest transport service but stated emphatically that the STC service today is terrible.

It does not make business sense to travel with a transport organisation which inconveniences passengers and does not respect them. Once they have paid for the service of a transport service, the onus lies on the transport service provider to see to it that the passengers’ safety and comfort is secured at all time and not compromised. 

The instance where some passengers were left at the Côte d’Ivoire side of the border without waiting for every passenger to get on board was gross disrespect and a breach of the safety of the passengers. The case where the personnel loading the bus demand monies from passengers after they have paid for their luggage is not right and must cease.  

Customer Relations
Customer service is the end-all to any company’s success or failure. The customer is what provides the income that a company needs to thrive and determines whether or not a company can continue to stay in business. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that a high level of customer service always be something to strive for. Without continued excellence in customer service, a company’s success is over before it starts. It is expected that a company as huge as the STC would have a sense of customer feeling and if not to solve the problem on the spot, should be able to calm agitated customers down with a professional touch. The STC office at the Ghana side of the border at Elubo where complaints are to be lodged is opened and deserves some commendations. Be that as it may, as to whether the office is serving its purpose or not will be an issue to be contended by STC as a company and its customers. A gentleman greeted us warmly as we entered the office. We began by saying we had a complaint that we wanted him to know about. Before we could finish our narration, a simple complaint had become a debate. According to him, the bus was overloaded with goods. Yes. But the goods belonged to the passengers on-board. Assuming all the goods belonged to the passengers on-board as he suggested, does it make sense to overload a bus just because the goods belong to passengers? To an extent that the second door of the bus was completely blocked and in case of an emergency, passengers would have struggled to use a single exit instead of two. The possible outcome is needs not to be mentioned. What was expected of this gentleman was for him to come out of the office and walk with us to the venue where the car was parked to ascertain for himself the intensity of the concerns being raised and render apologies even if nothing was going to be done about it. He chose to sit in his office to argue with us. Not wanting any long debate we told him we came to lodge a complaint and not to debate and left his office.

Passengers deserve better 

It is a sad reality that the once renowned State Transport Corporation (STC), now the Intercity State Transport Company has lost the Accra-Kumasi-Accra route to the VIP Tours, a private company. It is worrying that the sanitation condition at the bus terminal is a nightmare and the aging buses continue to ply our routes, without regard to passengers’ safety.    
As a carrier having the Ghana flag embossed on the company logo, your passenger and clients deserves better treatment from you. Your company indeed should uplift the name of Ghana in Côte d’Ivoire, instead of undeserving them in this embarrassing manner.
In fact, it is not enough to claim you will take your passengers to their destination safely. Your attitude towards your clients must change for the better. Treat passengers well and exceed their expectation, so that they will always choose your service above others.

Knights of Mallam marks first Anniversary

Sir Kt. Patrick Kaba, President of the Commandery (2nd from R) taking the salute.

The St. Dominic Commandery # 852, of the Knight of the St. John International, recently commemorated the first anniversary of its establishment with a thanksgiving Mass at the St. Dominic Catholic Church, Mallam in the Accra Archdiocese.

Rev. Fr. Wisdom Dordunu, Parish Priest, St. John the Baptist, Odokor and main celebrant at the Mass, entreated the Knights and Christians to practice the Word of God.

“It is not enough to be Christians in name or know the scriptures thoroughly, if we are not able to do the will of God or put to practice what the scriptures say” he said in a homily.   

Fr. Dordunu, who doubles as the Spiritual Director of the Order, charged the Knights and the Christians to show compassion and be merciful to everyone and not just their immediate family members and friends.    

He asked Christians to be empathetic, merciful and kind to their neighbours not only in words but in their deeds. 

Sir Knight Patrick Kaba, President of the Commandery, in an address recounted that the Mallam Commandery which started with 26 has grown by the initiation of four (4) more members.

He said efforts were underway to inaugurate the Ladies Auxiliary anytime soon to complement the Knights in the Commandery.

George Tsitu (R) receiving a citation.

The President presented a citation to Bro. George Tsitu, and commended him for selflessly seeing to the formation of the Junior Cadet of the Commandery.

Sir Peter Assubonteng, Second Vice President of the Accra West Grand Commandery, who graced the occasion applauded efforts of members of the order and urged them to keep it up and do more.    

As part the Anniversary, the Order presented ¢1,000 cash to the Church. A contingent of the Knights and Ladies as well as the Cadet mounted a parade which was reviewed by the Worthy Bro. Kaba.  

Meanwhile, Nana Bafour Ossei Hyeaman Brantuo VI, Otumfuo’s Manwerehene, who chaired the Men’s Harvest of the Church, urged the faithful to support the completion of the building project of the Church.

The Knights and Ladies Auxiliary of KSJI on parade.

    

‘Ignorance, bane of political animosity’

In the heat of the political season where politicians are canvasing for votes throughout the country, Most Rev. Peter Kwasi Sarpong says ignorance is the bane of political animosity.

He said ignorance is at the root of religious and political intolerance, making opponents see nothing good in the other party.

The Emeritus Archbishop of Kumasi Catholic Archdiocese, recently said this at the Christ the King Parish Hall, Accra during the launch of his book titled: Archbishop Sarpong explains Key Christians Topics.

The 105 page book with seven chapters, published by the Standard Newspapers and Magazines (SNAM) Ltd, seeks to clarify some key Christian topics including the Church in Promotion of a Good Political Life in Ghana; Papal Infallibility; Veneration of Saints and Sacraments of the Catholic Church.

Speaking at the launch, Archbishop Sarpong, stated that “ignorance makes us condemn and criticize and deplore what we don’t know with glee”.

“We condemn people not because we know they have done something evil, but, because we don’t know the truth about them. We are ignorant,” he opined.

He stressed that “ignorance is a disease” and added that “many have suffered untold hatred and persecution because some didn’t have all the facts about them”.  

Touching on two types of truths, the erudite Author credited with 27 books, said a person who knowing the truth but misrepresent the facts to others would be telling an untruth, a lie, but a person who honestly and sincerely sees the facts in different perspectives other than the actual truth will also be telling untruth.

“Yet of the two untruths the second one is the most dangerous” he noted, explaining that the teller of the second untruth can never change his mind if he really saw the fact differently.

“Most of the troubles of this world are due to this kind of untruth” the Archbishop said, arguing further that “the root cause of such destructive untruth is ignorance.

Bearing in mind the potential havoc ignorance could wreck in our society, Archbishop Sarpong, cautioned Ghanaians to take a cue from the harm ignorance in religious matters can cause, and desist from making pronouncements on anything unless we are absolutely certain of whatever we talking on, be it political, religious, economical, education or whatever.

Mrs. Dzodzormenyo auctioning the books

Proceeds of the books auctioned by Mrs. Peggy Dzodzormenyo would be used to procure new printing machines for SNAM Ltd.

In his remarks, Mr. Kwasi Ofori-Kuragu, Acting Managing Director of SNAM, thanked the Archbishop for his tireless effort in educating and sensitising people through his teachings and insightful and well researched write-ups.

He also commended Sir Isaac Fritz Andoh, immediate past Managing Director for starting the project.

A Section of the public at the Launch.

The President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Most Rev. Joseph Osei-Bonsu was among dignitaries at the function, chaired by Sir Daniel Gyimah and graced by the Prince of Peace Choir from Kwashieman.