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The Bolgatanga Regional Hospital has no trauma and orthopaedic surgeons to render services to accident victims brought to the facility.
The Medical Director of the hospital, Dr Aiden Suntaa Saanwie, who disclosed this, said the region records a lot of road traffic accidents, particularly involving motorbikes, and that there is an urgent need for such service to be readily available at the hospital.
“No government hospital, including the regional hospital, a secondary referral facility, offers such a service to persons who get involved in road accidents,” he stated.
He said this while delivering a presentation during a visit to the facility by members of the Parliamentary sub-committee on Health.
They were led by its chairman, Dr Mark Kurt Nawaane; Deputy Ranking Member, Kingsley Agyemang, and other members, Patrick Boakye-Yiadom and Anthony Mwinkaara Sumah.
The visit allowed the members to tour and assess the facility, as well as to interact with the management and the staff to ensure the effective administration of the hospital.
The medical director explained that due to the absence of trauma and orthopaedic services in government health facilities, accident victims are always compelled to rely on a private facility, with its attendant financial burdens.
He explained that “management has made arrangements with someone in Tamale, but it is not regular, since it is always subject to his availability” and added that such cases often came as an emergency, which makes it very difficult to get the specialist as quickly as possible.
He said as a matter of urgency, the facility needed at least two trauma and orthopaedic surgeons to render critical services to the people and further expressed worry about the presence of only one gynaecologist providing service to many pregnant women who visit the facility.
Additionally, he raised concern about the fact that there was only one radiographer in the hospital rendering services to patients who need X-rays and other related services, saying:
“It is important for more critical staff to be recruited to ease the pressure on the existing staff.
Dr Saanwie added that since the facility had evolved over the years, and with the construction of its third phase, additional staff were required to enable the hospital to operate optimally for the benefit of all.
“Sadly, the hospital has been compelled to rely on the existing staff to render services to patients admitted in the additional facilities provided” he said, stressing: “It is important for us to be granted a special dispensation to be able to recruit new staff.”
Further, he appealed to the committee to add their voice and lead discussions towards improving the staff strength of the hospital to enhance healthcare delivery.
The Chairman of the committee, Dr Nawaane, urged the management of the facility to explore ways of generating more revenue to support their operations and further entreated them to close up revenue leakages for effective administration of the facility.
On staff attrition, he said without motivation, the staff would continue to leave the facility after a few years of service, adding: “If the hospital’s IGF is substantial, part of it can be used to motivate staff towards their retention.”
While wondering why the hospital had only one gynaecologist and a radiographer, he appealed to the government to consider the request by the facility for more staff to be recruited.
