Ministry Posts Two Doctors To Tema Hospital

The Ministry of Health has posted two doctors from the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital to take care of the Labour Ward of the Tema General hospital, which has been closed down as a result of shortage of medical personnel.

This forms part of a national exercise to ensure the fair distribution of doctors in the country. Mr. Moses Dani-Baah, the deputy minister of health, who disclosed this in an interview in Accra on May 19 said the ministry was mobilizing to post doctors from the Korle-Bu and the Komfo Anokye Teaching hospitals to areas where there is acute shortage of doctors, especially the polyclinics.

The two teaching hospitals account for about 80 per cent of the distribution of doctors in the country. Top officials of the MOG held on elaborate meeting on May 18 on how to solve the problem at the Tema Hospital as well as other hospitals facing a similar difficulty. The labour ward of the Tema General hospital has been closed down since May 7, 2004, depriving women in labour the much needed medical attention.

Hand notices posted at the Out-Patients Department (OPD) and the Labour and Lying-in wards at the hospital read, “Because of severe medical staff shortages in the maternity unit, we are unable to provide 24-hour emergency obstetric/gynaecology services especially for labour cases. The labour unit is, therefore, closed down with effect from today, 07-05-04, until further notice. All new cases should be referred to the Ridge hospital, the Korle-bu teaching hospital or other medical centres.

The situation at the maternity ward has however become more alarming, following the vacation of post by two medical officers, leaving only two doctors and a consultant who now find it difficult to cope with the volume of work. The country is confronted with the problem of the exodus of doctors, pharmacists and nurses to seek greener pastures elsewhere.

Last month, Britain and Ghana agreed in a protocol to stem the tide of the exodus of Ghanaian nurses to Britain.