Health workers particularly, nurses have been charged to demonstrate friendly attitudes towards patients who visit the various health facilities in the country for treatment.

The Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Ebenezer Appiah-Denkyira, said staff attitude in most cases serves as an affront to quality health care thus urged Health Workers to exhibit tolerance when dealing with patients.

He indicated that healthcare should go beyond just treating ailments to offering a holistic approach towards healthcare by working in teams in an effort to nip the ailment in the bud.

Dr Denkyira was speaking at the sidelines of an Annual General Meeting of Medical Superintendents Wednesday at Sogakope in the South Tongu District.

According to him, GHS is gearing up to implement a framework to emulate initiatives by hospitals which are performing better in health service delivery and also put a human face on health care.

“Most times we are accused of not being nice and I want to change that perception about us doctors, if somebody comes and you take time, explain the condition to the person it makes them feel loved and cared for. It is a team work and we will do our best to make our patients feel at home anytime they visit the hospitals,’’ he said.

The national president of the Medical Superintendents group, Dr Ofori Boadu speaking to Joy News identified National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) reimbursement and remuneration are some challenges bedevilling them.  

“The NHIS has been our main challenge and the commitment on the part of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) is not enough as only a few hospitals have been reimbursed in the whole year. We are also appealing to the government to solve the issue of the remuneration of the  doctors as early as possible,” Dr Ofori  Boadu Pleaded

The Program which was on under the theme, 'Achieving the improved healthcare delivery outcomes using quality improvement methodology' saw all medical superintendents across the country at Sogakope in the South Tongu District.

In his speech, the Volta Regional Director of Health Services, Dr Joseph Teye Nuetey said the persistent delays in reimbursing NHIS claims greatly contribute to the shortage of certain logistics and medicines in the facilities.

He reiterated that managers cannot perform their duties to improve their availability without regular inflow of financial resources.

According to him, experienced, committed and results-oriented managers have the wherewithal to significantly enhance the effectiveness of the process and systems.

“I have no doubt whatsoever that our medical superintendents possess these attributes to accomplish the task in the respective institutions, the system which we have built over the years are so resilient. That is why it has withstood all the economic pressure and had succumbed," Dr Nuetey said.

In a speech read on behalf of the Volta Regional Minister, Helen Ntoso, by the DCE for South Tongu, Samuel Mawuko Eworyi, government appreciates the link between improve health delivery and development and is doing everything in its capacity to ensure that health care is improved

He said, Government is working  hard to ensure that health care is accessible ,equitable and affordable to the greater number of Ghanaians

“Even though we may have chalked some success, looking at where we have come from, where some of our health indicators were very high, I know that we still have a lot to do in the area of health infrastructure and the provision of human and material resources," Samuel Mawuko Eworyi said.