Health Minister, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, has paid a surprise visit to a Mother and Child Hospital in Kasoa to assess service delivery and engage staff on challenges affecting healthcare.

He explained that the visit was prompted by public concern about maternal and child health services

The visit, which happened on Thursday, May 14, according to the Health Minister, was not meant to find faults but to engage workers directly and encourage improvements in maternal and child health services.

“You all know I have stated on a number of occasions that I do not want to widen the distance between any health professional and myself as a health minister. So, irrespective of where you find yourself, I can be there at any given time.

“You all agree with me that maternal and child health has been in the media for a very long time these days. So I decided to pay them a surprise visit. None of them knew I was coming here," he said.

"I am not here to preempt whatever investigation is going on. This investigation will continue. But then what I'm interested in is to change the narrative within the next 24 hours," he added.

Mt Mintah Akandoh said he held frank discussions with staff to find solutions to their challenges. He noted that staff complained about being overwhelmed and needing more personnel.

In response, he ordered immediate staffing support.“I have directed that about three medical doctors should be posted here with immediate effect. I have also directed that they should put five midwives to this facility,” he said.

He added that some orderlies will be regularised and that medical equipment requests will be addressed quickly.

“I have directed them to make sure that from tomorrow, they start changing the narrative at the Mother and Child,” he said.

He also directed better patient reception, functional CCTV cameras, and proper use of name tags by health workers.

While acknowledging that not all issues can be fixed immediately, he said urgent needs will be addressed within one week.