Health Council outlines vision to improve healthcare delivery
The Ghana Health Service Council has outlined its vision statement to enhance quality healthcare delivery across the country.
Dr Yao Yeboah, Chairman of the Council said the Healthcare sector of the country is faced with numerous challenges, ranging from the lack of medical equipment, shortage of hospital beds and the attitude of health professional towards patients, among others.
He made this known when members of the Council paid a working visit to the Accra Regional Health Directorate to acquaint themselves with the work and challenges confronting it.
He said these strategies and systems when put in place, would help salvage the challenges in the sector.
Dr Yeboah said the vision statement sought to improve the quality of care at all levels, increase access to hard-to-reach areas, put in place a system to attract and retain health professionals in deprived areas, enhance health emergency preparedness of facilities, promote local medical tourism and the relocation of the Ghana Health Service National Secretariat.
It is also aimed at completing the Ghana Health Service training centre at Pantang, supply of medical and non-medical consumables, using planned pooled procurement system and last mile strategy, enhance performance excellence, reinsurance for health professionals as well as the decentralisation and expansion of the family health specialist training.
Dr Yeboah said health promotion would be made a key programme and a succession plan for managers and other staff instituted. Also leadership and governance at all levels would be strengthened with the provision of adequate funding for all programmes at regional and district directorates, as well as the improvement on teamwork and accountability.
He said, the council would also ensure that the staff housing project commences soon to help address the numerous accommodation challenges.
He said the council was working tirelessly to ensure that the health sector had a fair share of the national budget in 2019 and appealed to all senior managers to have strong systems in place to make the vision workable.
Dr Yeboah urged the managers to ensure that the vision was well translated to trickle down to the last man for their understanding, adding that, this would help improve health care.
He also advised managers to ensure that health professionals wear bold name tags for easy identification.
Dr Mrs Charity Sarpong, the Regional Director GHS, expressed gratitude to the council for the visit and to see the challenges facing the Directorate.
She said health facilities across the country was faced with challenges and that the visit was an important initiative that would motivate staff of the various centres to give off their best and help transform the sector.
She said the visit was a clear indication of better days ahead and called for increased government funding to improve the sector.
Source: GNA