District Directors of the Ghana Health Service have reminded government about the need to adequately resource the health sector.
They mentioned infrastructure deficit, lack of vehicles and motorcycles, delays in paying claims to service providers under the National Health Insurance Scheme, and lack of incentive packages as their major problems.
They made these concerns known at the 26th Annual Conference of District Directors of Health Services Group,(DDHSG) held in Tamale.
The Conference was on the theme, “Reducing maternal and neonatal mortality through health systems strengthening.”
National Chairman of the DDHSG, Dr. Andrews Ayim, asked government to strengthen the Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) compounds and other health facilities.
According to him, inadequate human and material capital is hampering quality health service delivery.
Director General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Nsiah Asare, lauded the conference theme and challenged the Directors and all health personnel to let it reflect in their work.
He assured them to expect a significant boost in the health sector as plans are far advanced to give each district a pickup vehicle and a motorcycle to improve their outreach programmes.
He admitted that human resource management remained a major challenge the Ghana Health Service was confronted with.
Dr. Nsiah Asare told the District Directors to adhere to directives and be responsive to same, and also strive to meet the needs of sub-districts and CHPS zones.
“The staffing norms have just been completed and its deployment and implementation is underway. Moving forward all staff will go through interview process at the regional level and placements and postings done according to the identified gaps. District Directors should ensure that these norms are adhered to at the various districts.”
He insisted that, “As District Directors, you are to ensure that your staff are motivated and teams are working well. The need to attract and retain the staff in deprived areas cannot be overemphasized. The Service will develop and implement the deprived area incentives to get staff to these areas and some additional dispensation will be granted for those in the deprived areas.”
He further talked about financial management saying, “Ensuring transparency and accountability in the use of resources remain important to the Service. As bold steps have been taken to deal with outstanding NHIS claims reimbursement by government, it is incumbent on us to ensure prudent management of all resources including IGF and also submit claims on time and take steps to reduce claims rejection.”
The Northern Regional Minister, Salifu Sae-ed in a speech read on his behalf, raised alarm over the maternal and neonatal mortality recorded recently.
“Maternal and neonatal mortality continued to be a problem in the country. The maternal mortality ratio stands at about 147.3 per 100,000 live births, whiles the neonatal mortality ratio stands at 8.4 per 1,000 live births.”
“This compared to the international standard is still unacceptable and we need to work hard to reduce the burden.”
Salifu Sae-ed promised that government and its development partners will continue to support health facilities and institutions.
He commended the UNICEF, UNFPA, CRS, JICA and the USAID for their interventions in the health sector.
The Northern Regional Director of the Ghana Health Service, Dr. John Bertson Gleeza, admonished the District Directors to re-strategize and help government to achieve the agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goal 3.
“Reducing maternal and neonatal mortality has remained a challenge over the years due to problems that can be contextually associated with weak health systems. It is in the light of this that the UN General Assembly adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development that includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). The SDG 3 which is to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all ages specifically target reduction in maternal and neonatal mortality.”
“A strong health system require quality leadership and governance mechanisms, human, material and financial resources as well as accurate health information to guarantee a health system that can respond effectively to the health needs of a population.”
“Since District Directors are the fulcrum around which the planning and implementation of various packages of basic health services delivery revolves, it will take your good leadership to build a strong health system at the district level,” he emphasized.
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By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah/citinewsroom.com/Ghana
The post Ghana health service needs retooling – District Directors appeared first on Citi Newsroom.
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