Winneba Hospital trains sign language interpreters
Thirty-five staff at the Winneba Government Hospital, have been trained as sign language interpreters to ensure effective communication with speech and hearing impairment patients.
At a ceremony to inaugurate the trained staff at the hospital on Wednesday, Dr. George Prah Medical Superintendent of the Hospital said the training was to comply with the Persons with Disability Act 2006 (Act 715).
He said the Act “directs service providers to the public to put in place the necessary facilities that makes the service available and accessible to persons with disability” including the deaf and dumb.
The Effutu Municipal Chief Executive, Nii Ephraim commended management of the Municipal Government Hospital for being the first health facility in the Central Region to initiate such a move.
The Chief Executive said the initiative was laudable and hoped management would ensure that the trained staff carry out their roles effectively.
Dr Luiz Amoussou-Gohoungo, Effutu Municipal Director of Ghana Health Services, also advised the trained staff to ensure that the training they had gone through helped the hospital and the patients.
Mr Emmanuel Kweku Sackey, President of the National Association of the Deaf, appealed to the Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service and all healthcare institutions in the country to consider the plight of the physically challenged.
Mr Peter Kyeremateng, Acting Central Regional Director of Clinical Care Department, who deputized for the Regional Director of Health Services, expressed appreciation to the management of the Hospital for taking the plight of the deaf clients into consideration.
He urged other facilities in the Region to emulate the example of the Effutu Municipal Hospital.
Source: GNA
This is a good news. this is what I have been advocating for. I would even prefer that Ghanaian Sign Language be added to the nursing training syllabus so that the practitioners become more competent with the use of the Language. One month or two months TRAINING WORKSHOP is not enough to equip the practitioners with the needed competency in the use of the language at a special field like the health sector.
Interpreting is a profession on its own. One of the code of conduct of the profession says that, the service provider (the interpreter) should do no harm. Can we trust the competency of those trained staff that much? or we just want to fill a vacuum. Please the lives of the Deaf is so dear to GOD and mother Ghana. Some people have studied GSL-Ghanaian Sign Language in reputable institutions in Ghana for even three years but they cannot sign.
Yes the Deaf community needs mediators to facilitate communication between them and the health facilities in Ghana and I thank the authorities behind the training of the 35 staff of Winneba Gov’t Hospital in Sign Language Interpreting for the good start. My plea is that the duration for such programme be made to cover more than TWO YEARS so that many things could be learnt to ensure adequate competency.