Change in attitude crucial to better health delivery

Ho, Feb. 12, GNA - Dr Ebenezer Appiah-Denkyira, Director - General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) on Tuesday called for change in attitudes to ensure that the mix of expertise in the Service results in better health among the citizenry.“Let us clean our image this year.”He was addressing the 2013 Volta Regional Health Services performance review conference in Ho.It was under the theme, “Focusing on the frontline staff: A key determinant for improving access and quality health services in the Volta Region.”Dr Appiah-Denkyira observed that some African countries which came to understudy the best practices in GHS were making significant strides, while the opposite seemed to be the case in the country.He said the Millennium Development Goals four and five on maternal and child health remained a major challenge to the Service with just one year left to the deadline.Dr Appiah-Denkyira said health facilities in Ghana from the hospitals down to the CHIP Compounds should be seen to be supporting each other.He urged nurses and other health professionals to be interested in how patients who called at their facilities were progressing towards full recovery.For instance Community Health Nurses could make provision to assist people to get to the health facilities, assist them to the next level of care when referred and explain instructions as well as assisting people not to fall sick.“Let people feel your care,” he said.Dr Appiah-Denkyira urged health facilities to use the opportunity offered by Airtel to take specialist services to the lower levels of health delivery facilities.He challenged the Volta Region to take up the lead in making the positive differences that the public was looking for from the GHS.Dr Joseph Teye Nuertey Volta Regional Director of Health said the region recorded mixed performance in 2013 but “performed creditably well in the clinical service delivery.”He said “though the manpower for maternal health care was improving, health care indicators for the period dropped”.Antenatal coverage dropped from 88 per cent in 2012 to 77.9 per cent in 2013, while pregnant women who visited antenatal clinics more than four times in 2012 dropped from 78 per cent to 68 per cent in 2013.Family planning coverage also dropped from 30.1 per cent in 2012 to 24 per cent in 2013, while stillbirths decreased from 1.9 per cent in 2012 to 1.8 per cent in 2013.The region recorded 160.2 maternal deaths per 100,000 in 2013 against 174 per 100,000 in 2012 with post natal care coverage rising from 62 per cent in 2102 to 68 per cent in 2013.Dr Nuertey said the Regional Health Directorate has initiated a number of measures to improve performance in the ensuing year.“Let’s put smiles on the faces of our compatriots,” he urged.GNA Read Full Story