By Christopher Tetteh
Nkrankwanta, (Bono), June 27, GNA – Dr Daniel Owusu-Amponsah, the Dormaa West District Director of Health, has appealed for standard medical devices and equipment to improve quality healthcare delivery in the district.
He said health facilities ought to be improved as well, urging the need for more health workers to be posted to serve deprived communities for improved health outcomes.
Dr Owusu-Amponsah made the appeal when speaking at a health forum organized by the directorate at Nkrankwanta, the district capital, saying the directorate was experiencing challenges in providing quality healthcare service delivery in the area.
The forum, on the theme: “Closing the gap, fixing Dormaa West’s Infrastructure and Medical Challenges-our shared responsibility”, was attended by traditional authorities, health workers as well as Heads of Department and Agencies.
Dr Owusu-Amponsah regretted that the directorate, established13 years ago, still lacked modern medical devices and equipment, staff accommodation as well as limited health personnel, impeding healthcare delivery.
He said the District Hospital required 173 additional staff, saying more health facilities ought to be built to meet the growing demand needs of quality healthcare delivery in the district. Dr Owusu-Amposah said: “The District Health Director is even lodging in a hotel now due to lack of staff accommodation”, saying “other critical staff are also traveling distances to come to work”.
He said the district hospital at Nkrankwanta served as a referral facility attending to cases from Bia East in the Western North region and even Cote D’Ivoire, saying “we lack general nurses, medical officers, specialists and midwives”.
Dr Owusu-Amponsah said the lack of accommodation was forcing many of the critical health workers to seek transfers, impeding efforts to bring healthcare delivery services to the door steps of the about 70 communities in the district.
He appealed to stakeholders, including chiefs and queens, businesses, corporate bodies and NGOs to come to their aid, saying the condition of some of the health facilities at Krakrom, Gyaase, Kwabena Dwomokrom, Kojo Kumi Krom, Nyameama Brofoyedru, New Chiraa and Yaakrom was not the best.
Mr Dickson Hinneh, the Senior Advanced Emergency Medical Technician of the National Ambulance Service in the District, also expressed concern about the deplorable condition of roads affecting ambulance services in the area.
When contacted, Mr Stephen Azorba Awuni, the Dormaa West District Chief Executive, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that the Assembly was working to tackle some of the challenges.
GNA
Edited by Dennis Peprah/Christian Akorlie