By Godfred A. Polkuu
Sherigu (U/E), Nov. 8, GNA – Mr Stephen Bordotsiah, the Bolgatanga Municipal Director of the Ghana Health Services (GHS), says the ‘Network of Practice’ (NoP) initiative will not replace the Community-Based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) concept.
The NoP is a strategic initiative intended to bring public and private healthcare practitioners and facilities together to enhance access to quality health services for all.
As a government initiative implemented by the GHS with support from the World Bank, the NoP aligned with the Service’s commitment to achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) by 2030.
Mr Bordotsiah, therefore, said the NoP was to complement the CHPS system and not to replace it, “It will rather strengthen the activities of the CHPS system and give meaning to public private partnership in our effort to bring health to the needs of our people.”
The Municipal Director said this in an address delivered on his behalf at the launch of the NoP at the Sherigu Health Centre in the Bolgatanga Municipality.
The launch brought together officials from the Regional and Municipal Health Directorates, Physician Assistants (PAs), midwives and nurses of various categories, over-the-counter medicine sellers, bone setters and opinion leaders among other stakeholders in the Sherigu community.
Mr Bordotsiah said there would be a Model Health Centre (MoHC) to serve as a hub within the NoP framework, to coordinate with other facilities referred to as ‘Spokes.’
“The network will ensure that the MoHC will have enough of what it needs to receive referral from the periphery, which happens to be the CHPS compounds, the bonesetters and the chemical sellers in the community,” he said.
According to him, the NoP would rather strengthen the CHPS system, adding that there would be quarterly visits by a Senior Health Management Team including Specialist Doctors to monitor the activities of the network, and offer the needed support.
The Director cautioned that the NoP was not intended to give opportunity to partners in the network to run a parallel health system and said every facility with the license to operate had limitations.
He said over-the-counter medicine sellers were limited in the types of medicines they could sell and insisted that under no circumstance should over-the-counter medicine or pharmacy shops admit or detain patients.
He said there were PAs and nurses within the nearby network and players within the network could refer cases beyond them for proper management and reiterated that the NoP was not an opportunity for partners, especially over the counter and pharmacy shops to operate parallel health system.
In a speech delivered on his behalf, Dr Samuel Kwabena Boakye-Boateng, the Regional Director of the GHS, implored all stakeholders within the NoP to wholeheartedly embrace their respective roles and responsibilities, clearly established in the NoP policy document for successful implementation.
He said the purpose of the NoP was to reduce the pressure on hospitals by equipping the health centres as hubs, so that the hospitals could be the referral point for complicated and specialized conditions amidst limited resources.
“The NoP initiative seeks to address and improve various aspects of healthcare delivery, including human resources, staff mix, logistics, equipment, infrastructure, and community engagement,” Dr Boakye-Boateng said.
Mr Raymond Adoganga, the Sub-Municipal Leader for the Sherigu Health Centre and Sub-Municipality, said the NoP initiative would fit in the existing health model and elevate the Health Centres to coordinate all health activities at the Sub-district level.
He appealed to philanthropists within and outside the community, government, and Non-Governmental Organizations to help the facility construct a placenta pit and incinerator to enable them manage waste from the facility.
GNA