The Tema General Hospital is facing a serious congestion problem at its Out-Patient's Department and the Maternity Ward. As a result, patients detained for observation at the OPD receive drips on benches. At the maternity ward, as many as three women share a bed, while two babies or more share a cot. This came to light on Wednesday, when the Min­ister of Health, Dr George Sipa-Adjah Yankey, vis­ited the hospital to acquaint himself with problems facing the hospital. He was conducted round by Dr (Mrs) Charity Sarpong, the Medical Superintendent in charge. Areas visited included the OPD, the maternity ward, the ante-natal clinic, the mortuary and the se­nior male ward. At the OPD, the nurses complained of poor ventilation while at the Labour Ward, the doctors appealed for an additional theatre to avoid patients slated for caesarian section queuing for their turns. Dr Sarpong said since the hospital was con­structed in 1954 and handed over to the government in 1962, it had not seen any major renovation, result­ing in the building developing structural problems like cracks and leaky roofs among others. She therefore appealed to government to refur­bish and expand the hospital to enable it to cope with the increasing number of patients. "In 2008, the hospital recorded attendance of 207,329 compared to 180,914 the previous year", she said. Also, the hospital did not have enough accommodation for its staff and also lacked the requisite staff needed for the increasing client load. "For instance, we have only 20 general duty doctors, six specialists, and 321 nurses." The hospital also did not have a pathologist to perform autopsy and post­mortem examinations. Dr Sarpong said even though the hospital performed the services of a Regional Hospital, the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) continued to pay its Na­tional Health Insurance claims using district level tar­iffs, resulting in it running at a loss and warned that that might eventually compromise service provision because the hospital might not be able to procure the needed consumables or meet its overhead costs. She also complained of delays in reimbursement by the NHIA, making it difficult to implement budgeted programmes and policies. Dr Sarpong disclosed that the hospital's mortuary had been closed down for the past five years due to its deplorable state. She said in spite of those challenges, the hospital had used part of its resources to undertake piecemeal renovations. She said the hospital had developed a comprehen­sive master plan towards its future development and appealed to corporate bodies for support. Dr Sarpong said the hospital would soon con­struct a Neo-natal Intensive Care Unit for babies. The Health Minister said he was appalled by the situation at the hospital and promised that the government would do its best to reverse the situation. He said the government had planned to up­grade the hospital and would soon provide addi­tional infrastructure, equipment and post more personnel there. Dr Yankey added that henceforth, all new hos­pitals would have staff accommodation as an in­tegral part and would be filled with solar power as a back up. He commended the hospital staff for their dedi­cation to duty. The Minister later visited the Tema Polyclinic where he was conducted round by Dr Sally Quartey, the Senior Medical Officer. Source: Ghanaian Times