Health personnel at the Sepe Aprampram Health Centre in Kumasi are lamenting the lack of privacy, especially in their labour wards.

The non-gated health center attracts passersby who often attempt to catch a glimpse of pregnant women in labour.

Physicians constantly have to ward off and fight residents peeping through the maternity wards.

The Sepe Aprampam Health Center serves residents of Airport Roundabout and Sepe Buokrom in Kumasi.

The health center has not been fenced since inception.

The proximity of the maternity ward to the roadside has made it easy for the prying eyes of the public to see what goes on there.

Some people have been found destroying the windows in an attempt to get a glimpse of pregnant women in labour.

Madam Harriet Donkor, a Physician Assistant at the Sepe Aprampram Health Center, bemoaned the situation.

“The absence of a fence wall is affecting our privacy. The labour ward is a few meters away from the road side. At the back of the unit, people usually stand there to look at pregnant women in labour. We chase them away all the time. If our unit was gated, we can keep it locked. We the physicians and our patients are having a hard time,” she bemoaned.

The use of benches in place of back-end chairs at the health centers deters community members from using the facility.

The health personnel lament the absence of an oxygen cylinder and the rush to hospitals in other communities to get used blankets washed.

“We have no laboratory here. Our patients visit other hospitals to do their labs. There is so much time wasted. Look at this inconvenience. Why would I waste my time visiting this facility when I visit other hospitals with all facilities available? Why would I come here and sit on a bench till my back aches?  Why would I visit an emergency unit, where there is no extra oxygen cylinder available? Why would a health centre tell me all their bedsheets are dirty, as they do not have a washing machine?” she quizzed.

After several appeals, the Executive Men’s Club of Buokrom Estate in Kumasi has donated items worth 200,000 cedis to the health centre.

The Chairman of the Executive Men’s Club, Mr. Benjamin Kwadwo Asuako explained why they made the donation.

“The health center asked us to come to their aid. They mentioned they need fans, chairs, washing machines, air conditioning etc. I put the request before my members. They accepted it and we decided to make this donation,” he said.