The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), is set to roll out a nationwide “Nursing Project” that seeks to abolish the manual record-taking and documentation of patients information at health facilities.

"This program, when implemented, will enable patients experience healthcare in a better way,” Mr. Felix Nyanteh, Registrar of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), revealed when the council took delivery of over 160 computers and accessories provided by the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communication (GIFEC).

“We are therefore grateful to GIFEC for the equipment and the support," he said, adding, the short term targets of the project include networking selected hospitals, deployment of computers and accessories, installation and more importantly, the training of nurses and midwives on the use of the software.

GIFEC presented 116 desktop computers and Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS), worth   GHS 304,500 for the mainstreaming of the project in selected hospitals.

Mr. Kwabena Owusu Akyeampong, Administrator of GIFEC pledged his company's continued support for the project and hoped it would eventually be made a national policy after the pilot phase of the programme.

The project which began in April 2014, was piloted in selected hospitals that already had basic equipment to commence operations.  The Achimota Hospital, Holy Trinity Medical Center and La General Hospital in Accra as well as the VRA Hospital in Akosombo were the early beneficiaries.

 The pilot phase for which the equipments were donated will start with Municipal Hospital in Saltpond, Government Hospital at Half Assini, Tafo Government Hospital in the Kumasi Metropolis and the Government Hospital, Kibi.

The rest are Jaman North Hospital in Sampa, Sissala East District Hospital- Tumu, War Memorial Hospital- Navrongo, West hospital- Tamale and the Achimota Hospital, Accra. The selection was hinged on requirement that included facilities without ICT installation, the willingness of the hospitals to provide human resource, adopt electronic medical records systems and among others.

The project in the long term is to increase the accuracy and completeness of nursing documentation, improve workflow, eliminate redundant documentation and automate the collection and reuse of data at the point of care.

This support forms part of GIFEC’s School Connectivity Project which involves the provision of high speed computer, printers, scanners, projectors and servers to educational institutions while linking them with internet access.