Consultant Orthopaedic and Head of Trauma Surgery at the Tamale Teaching Hospital, Dr Noel Tolgou Yempabe says 947 trauma cases were reported at the Hospital in 2019 from the six regions in northern Ghana. 

He said most of those cases were emergency resulting from road traffic accidents, complications from the works of bonesetters, personal and interpersonal violence, self-injury, and assault with its attendant morbidity and mortalities.

Dr Yempabe disclosed this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Tamale during a follow-up on trauma related cases at the Hospital.

He said retooling the Emergency Unit of the Hospital must be prioritised to effectively handle emergency cases and avoid deaths.  

He said the Computerized Tomography (CT) Scan, which was a major equipment used to scan for fractures and other related cases was down, and needed to be refurbished or replaced to ensure efficiency at the  department.    

Dr Yempabe explained that the CT scan combines series of X-ray images taken from different angles around a patient’s body and processed using computer to determine the bones, blood vessels and soft tissues.

Images from the CT scan provide better detailed information than what the traditional X-rays provide.

He indicated that the Trauma Department needed a conference room for meetings to discuss related cases, VIP room at the trauma ward, theatre partitions, television sets and curtains at the wards among other things to give some level of privacy to patients.

Dr Yampabe noted that most of the equipment used at the Orthopaedic Care Department were obsolete and appealed for modern equipment to improve health care delivery.  

He urged the Government to support teaching hospitals nationwide to organise training workshop for medical practitioners yearly, to enhance their capacities in providing quality health care for the populace.

He called on stakeholders in the health sector, non-governmental organisations and philanthropic institutions to assist trauma and orthopaedic departments across the country for proper rehabilitation and integration of patients into society.