Work on a paediatric audiology centre, which forms part of the remodelling of the centre, is yet to be completed.

The redevelopment of the centre is being undertaken with support from the Australian High Commission, the Australian community in Ghana, philanthropists and some corporate institutions in the country.

Centre

The centre was established in 2013 and specialises in diagnosing and treating communication, voice and swallowing disorders related to autism, cleft lip and palate deformities and stammering.

It also caters for patients recovering from stroke and major head and neck cancer surgeries, for which rehabilitation for speech, voice and swallowing will be required.

Cochlear service

At a ceremony at the hospital to hand over the refurbished centre on Thursday, the Director of Pharmacy at the hospital, Mrs Elizabeth Bruce, who spoke on behalf of the Chief Executive Officer of the hospital, said the hospital would, in February, add a Cochlear implant service to those being offered to provide all speech and language deficient services under one roof.

“We will be engaging partners for the incorporation of a Cochlear implant service in February and so it is very opportune that we have this centre which will house all related works with regard to speech and language disabilities,” she stressed.

A Cochlear implant is an electronic device that provides hearing for people who cannot obtain any benefit from conventional hearing aids.

“A Speech and Language Therapy Centre, therefore, is essential for people with speech and language difficulties, as they will now have opportunity of fixing Cochlear implants,” she added.

Therapists

Mrs Bruce announced that the centre would be recruiting additional therapists for the centre.

For his part, the Australian High Commissioner, Mr Andrew Barnes, expressed appreciation to all donors who made the project a success.

He hinted that there was a plan in place to have more language and speech therapists in the country trained by professional therapists from outside the country.