By Samira Larbie, GNA
Accra, Oct. 7, GNA – The University of Ghana Medical Centre (UGMC) has launched its 2026 Customer Service Week with a call on staff to go beyond routine duties and provide compassionate, respectful and patient-centred care.
The week, being observed from October 5 – 9, on the theme: “The Extra Mile,” seeks to strengthen the culture of service excellence at the Centre and remind staff that every interaction with a patient contributes to the “overall patient experience.”
Dr Abdul-Samed Tanko, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of UGMC, said customer service was not the responsibility of the Client Services Department alone, but a collective responsibility of all staff.
He said patients and their families entered the Centre seeking more than diagnosis and treatment, but also reassurance, respect, compassion and clear communication.
“Every interaction matters. A smile, a kind word, a clear explanation, a willingness to listen, and simply taking ownership of patients’ concerns can profoundly influence how a person experiences UGMC,” he said.
The CEO said clear communication remained an area that required particular attention, stressing that the quality of client service must match the quality of medical care provided by the Centre.
He urged staff; clinicians, nurses, pharmacists, laboratory scientists, administrators, security personnel, cleaners and technicians, to make every interaction count.
The theme: he said, challenged staff to ask themselves: “What more can I do to make this patient’s experience better?”
Dr Tanko said going the extra mile did not necessarily require extraordinary acts, but could involve helping a patient find another department instead of merely giving directions, or seeking to understand the person behind a complaint.
The Chief of Staff, Dr Julius Debrah, in a speech read on his behalf, said customer service in healthcare was particularly important because patients often sought care at some of the most vulnerable moments of their lives.
He said unlike in other sectors where customer service could determine whether a client stayed or left, in healthcare, it could determine whether a frightened mother felt safe, an elderly patient felt respected, or a family left with hope.
The first mile represented duty and adherence to protocols, while the second mile represented choice and grace, Dr Debrah said.
He outlined seven dimensions of patient experience that UGMC could strengthen: accessibility, clarity, responsiveness, dignity, fairness, consistency and outcomes.
He urged management and staff to ensure that patients were treated fairly, given clear information, spared unnecessary delays and made to feel respected throughout their care journey.
The Chief of Staff called on the leaders to walk through the hospital from the patient’s perspective, measure what patients actually experienced and publicly recognise staff who consistently went the extra mile.
Mrs Yvonne Ohui MacCarthy, Founder of Institute of Customer Service Professionals, said healthcare service was not a transaction or scripted greeting but a lifeline for people often carrying anxiety, fear and vulnerability.
The extra mile, she noted, could be demonstrated through simple acts, such as a receptionist accompanying a confused family member to a clinic or a nurse spending additional time reassuring an anxious patient before a procedure.
“Clinical expertise heals the body, but going the extra mile heals the human spirit,” she said.
Mrs MacCarthy urged staff to treat every patient as a valued member of the UGMC family rather than as a file or bed number.
Mrs Barbara Owusu-Hemeng, Head of Client Service and Public Relations at the Centre, said from January to September 2026, the Client Services Department had facilitated about 250,000 appointments, created 150,000 outpatient visits, welcomed nearly 2,000 guests at the administrative wing and registered 130 complaints.
She said the figures represented thousands of interactions and opportunities to demonstrate professionalism, empathy and excellence.
The department’s objective, she noted, was to strengthen a culture of excellent service and remind staff that customer service was everybody’s responsibility.
She urged personnel to embrace UGMC’s service engagement principle: “To the client, I am UGMC.”
Mrs Owusu-Hemeng said the week would include educational and recreational activities, recognition of outstanding staff, a staff pop-up sale, and a karaoke session.
She encouraged staff to make excellent customer service a daily commitment beyond the celebrations.
The speakers agreed that world-class infrastructure and advanced medical technology alone could not make UGMC a world-class institution, stressing that it was the people and the quality of care and experience they created that would ultimately define the Centre.
The launch saw some staff members being honoured for their outstanding performance over the years.
With a renewed call for staff to make “The Extra Mile” not merely a theme for the week, the launch endorsed a lasting culture at UGMC, so that every patient would leave feeling seen, heard, respected and cared for.
GNA
Edited by Agnes Boye-Doe
Reporter: Samira Larbie
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