The Minister of Health Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, the has advised healthcare professionals across the country to exhibit high professional, life-saving standards in service delivery.

He stressed that no health facility has the right to turn away patients due to a lack of bed, regardless of the situation.

“Please, with the greatest of respect, no health facility has the right to turn any patient away because you say there is no bed. Unless you are referring the person,” he said.

Mr Akandoh adviced while addressing a staff durbar at the Upper East Regional Hospital in Bolgatanga as part of a one-day working visit to the region to follow up on newly posted doctors and to assess healthcare delivery at the hospital, which serves as the major referral centre for the region.

“You know what is happening in the public domain; we have set up a committee chaired by Professor Agyeman Badu Akosa. I can assure you, I will implement the findings to the letter,” he emphasised.

The Minister, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Juaboso Constituency in the Western North Region, told staff that even if they must treat patients on the floor to save lives, they should do their best.

“It doesn’t mean you can save every life but do your best under the circumstances. However, to the extent that you do not even want to see the patient, that is not professional,” he said.

Prior to the durbar, Mr Akandoh visited the Emergency Department (ED), where he observed that patients were sometimes kept in the department for more than 24 hours. “Once you stabilise patients, move them to the wards,” he directed.

“It is better to move stable patients to the wards and create emergency beds to receive new cases. I agree that we do not have all the equipment, and we are all thinking about solutions. But let us pay attention to the critical cases first. Can you imagine a stabilised person staying at the Emergency Department because there is no bed on the wards, and then an emergency case arrives and the person dies? Is that good management?”

“I am not blaming hospitals for not having all the equipment, but between the two options, which one will you opt for?” Mr. Akandoh quizzed the staff.

According to him, even if stable patients from the ED must be managed on the floors of the wards to create space for incoming emergency cases, that remains the better option.

Dr Braimah Baba Abubakari, the Regional Director of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), briefed the Minister on service delivery, noting that the region comprises 15 districts with a population of approximately 1.42 million.

He stated that there are eight public hospitals, of which seven were GHS facilities and one Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG) facility with additional 17 private hospitals, 45 private clinics, and 79 health centres.

Dr Abubakari added that there were 529 functional Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) zones with 262 compounds.

He said that the region currently has 105 doctors, with 59 stationed at the regional hospital including four newly posted. “The remaining 14 districts are served by 46 doctors.

“Out of 27 doctors posted to the region, only seven showed up; two went to the Northern Region, and five remained. Four at the regional hospital and one at the Paga hospital,” he added.