By Philip Tengzu, GNA
Wa, (UW/R), May 03, GNA – Mr James Wor, the District Chief Executive (DCE) for the Daffiama-Bussie-Issa (DBI) District, has emphasised the need for the government and development partners to make deliberate efforts to construct delivery rooms for health facilities in rural communities.
He said maternal healthcare services were critical in healthcare services provision and could not fathom why some Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) compounds were constructed without delivery rooms.
Mr Wor said this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Wa regarding the health sector of that district.
He indicated that recognising the need for maternal healthcare services, some communities had taken initiative to construct delivery rooms at health facilities in those communities.
“I know a lot of communities that have CHPS compounds but without delivery rooms, so the community members themselves have started their projects to construct the delivery rooms for those facilities,” the DCE stated.
Mr Wor added that accommodation for the health staff at the health centres was also critical for the effective functioning of a health facility, especially in rural communities.
He said that would enable the service providers reside at the facility to provide 24/hour services, especially at night.
Mr Wor observed that the absence of proper accommodation for health personnel at the health facilities was negatively impacting healthcare delivery at those communities.
He said that was because nurses posted to those communities often face difficulties settling with some of them living in distant communities and commuting daily to the health facilities to serve, which in turn affected the quality of the service delivery.
He stated that the need for the delivery rooms and nurses’ accommodation should inform policy decisions on how such health facilities should be constructed to ensure effective healthcare services provision.
Mr Wor assured his constituents that during his regime as the DCE, he would ensure that every new health facility to be constructed would have nurses’ accommodations and delivery rooms attached.
The DCE blamed poor supervision within the health sector for the poor quality of health service delivery in the DBI District, the Upper West Region and Ghana as a whole.
He also acknowledged that lack of essential medical consumables including drugs at some health facilities in the district was hindering effective health service delivery and emphasised the need for urgent intervention to address that challenge
Mr Wor indicated that the President John Dramani Mahama-led government had good policies in the health sector and expressed hope that those policies would be implemented to revitalise the sector and ensure quality service delivery.
GNA
CAE/LAA