By Philip Tengzu
Nandowli, (UW/R), April 4, GNA – Mr Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, the Speaker of Parliament, has presented medicines and non- consumable drugs worth about GH¢500,000.00 to the Nadowli District Hospital to help improve health service delivery.
The donation, which comprised 59 assorted drugs and 45 assorted medical consumables was at the request of the Nadowli-Kaleo District Health Directorate.
Speaking at a brief ceremony in Nadowli in the Nadowli-Kaleo District to present the items, Mr Bagbin indicated that he prioritised the health of people, especially women, since health was the primary need of every person.
He assured the people of his continuous support to the Hospital to ensure it delivered quality services saying, “I really have a very sharp conscience and find it difficult to sleep knowing how my people are suffering.”
“I want to assure you that this place will continue to remain as the Korle-Bu of the Upper West Region.
“We will do all we can to make sure it stays as the Korle-Bu of the Upper West Region”, Mr Bagbin added.
The Speaker of Parliament, however, stressed the need for the people to prioritise preventive health care and said it was not just about buying equipment and medicines to cure diseases.
He thanked the development partners, including UNICEF and JICA, for their support to the health sector in the district, the region and the country.
Speaker Bagbin also commended health personnel who had decided to serve in the region and the district, in particular. since many government officials shun serving in the region.
He assured the people that there were measures in place to ensure the items presented to the Hospital and other resources given to the district were used for the intended purpose.
“All of you should be rest assured that we have a system put in place to track the resources we send to the district.
Nobody can dip his hand or her hand and then chop our money, it won’t happen. We will audit it, we will get them and so have faith in them just like how you had faith in me”, he explained.
Mr Babgin also inspected the progress of work on the construction of an astroturf at the McCoy College of Education in Nadowli.
Mr Anthony Sumah, the Nadowli-Kaleo Member of Parliament (MP), recognised the support of Mr Bagbin to the then Urban Health Centre to get it the status of a District Hospital and was acclaimed as the “Korle-Bu” of the Upper West Region.
He, however, regretted that due to some challenges the Hospital faced, it seemed to have lost the “Korle-Bu” acclamation, which resulted in the youth of Nadowli demonstrating against the falling standard of the facility.
Mr Sumah, therefore, expressed gratitude to the Speaker of Parliament for heeding the call of the Health Directorate to support the Hospital with the items to help restore its status of quality healthcare service delivery.
The MP observed that ensuring quality health service delivery at the facility could be achieved through effective teamwork and collaboration between the necessary stakeholders.
Madam Phoebe Balagumyetime, the Nadowli-Kaleo District Health Director, thanked Mr Bagbin for his commitment to the health sector, which had greatly enhanced the quality of health services to the people of the district.
She explained that the District Hospital served as the key referral centre to the 54 other health facilities in the district – eleven Health Centres and 43 Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) compounds as well as the Daffiama-Bussie-Issa District.
She indicated that inadequate medical doctors, specialist nurses and Physician Assistants (PAs) in the district had been a major challenge to the health sector.
“The limited number of PAs is seriously affecting the quality of clinical care at the Health Centre level. Because they are not there we find nurses who become prescribers, services they are not supposed to provide but under the circumstance in which they work they usually provide those services,” she explained.
Madam Katherine Lankono, the Nadowli-Kaleo District Chief Executive, stated that the support of the Speaker of Parliament was timely as the facility was grappling with a myriad of challenges.
She observed that the support of Speaker Bagbin was not only to the District Hospital but to other health facilities across the district.
The DCE also commended other development partners in the district, including the Azumah Resources Limited for their support towards improving the health sector.
Representatives from the Upper West Regional Health Directorate and Members of the Nadowli-Kaleo District Assembly, among others, attended the event.
GNA