The Manhyia Government Hospital in the Ashanti Region has urged the government to promptly refurbish the maternity ward.

According to the hospital's management, the unit, with a 23-bed capacity, currently accommodates about 80 deliveries per week.

The Medical Superintendent of Manhyia Hospital, Dr Kamarudeen Korku Hussein, explained that this situation has forced some pregnant women to sometimes deliver their babies on the bare floor, exposing them to critical health conditions.

 Speaking in an interview with Joy FM on the Midday News on March 11, he said "Currently the maternity unit that we have, has 23 beds. That’s the capacity we have which is woefully inadequate looking at the number of deliveries that we do."

"There was a day that the king himself came here. There were a lot of people lying on the floor, so nobody was happy to see a mother delivered on the floor, so it was a very dire situation for us.

“Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that we talk about, quality of care is part of it, the person who is delivering the care, himself or herself must be healthy, so if we have mothers on the floor, it means that the health worker will have to bend down and be attending to the client on the floor, within a couple of months, you will start having low back pain, so you the healthcare worker yourself you are not healthy” he added.

Meanwhile, Kwabena Mintah Akandor, the Ranking Member on the Health Committee of Parliament, emphasises that the government must take further action to address the challenges within the health sector.

"It is the responsibility of the government to invest in the health sector," he said.

He stated that during his turn to debate the SONA, he presented examples of "sick hospitals" on the floor of the house.

"That is the way we can get them to do the right thing. These are people who don’t really care, if you are really responsible government in place, even after hearing this news, somebody must be answering some questions, the President or the Vice President or the Minister must quickly find out what is happening and solve the issue," he added.