Accra Regional Health Directorate Reviews Performance

Dr Charity Sarpong, the Greater Accra Regional Director of Health Services, has said the Region has chalked some modest gains in the first half of 2018 compared to same periods in 2017 and 2016.

These included the significant increase in the proportion of functional Community-Based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) to demarcated zones, which raised from 23.2 per cent to 55.7 per cent.

This is attributable to the fusion of funds and other resources into service delivery and monitoring, through the Maternal, Child Health and Nutrition-improvement Programme (MCHNP).

The Region, she said, recorded a total Out-Patient Department (OPD) attendance of 1,934,132 in 2018, up from 1,819,747, and 1,923,164 in 2016 and 2017 respectively.

1,023,390 (53 per cent) of the figure is made up of insured clients and a 0.40 OPD Per capita, while the proportion of morbidity and mortality due to malaria continue to decline significantly.

Dr Sarpong was speaking at the 2018 Mid-year Greater Accra Regional Health Sector Performance Review Meeting on Wednesday, where she announced the commencement of telemedicine health care delivery system in the Region during the period.

She said it was part of the measures to increase access, strengthen the gatekeeper and referral systems, and build capacity of peripheral service providers at the CHPS zones and health centres to provide quality services and contribute to the attainment of Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

The meeting, which was organised by the Greater Accra Regional Health Directorate, was on the theme: “Using Operational Research and ICT to Improve Health Outcomes in the Greater Accra Region”.

Dr Sarpong said taking stock of the stewardship during the period was key to identifying the factors accounting for the strengths and weaknesses, so as to map out practical amenable solutions to the performance gaps, and innovate to sustain and upscale the health gains chalked, going into the second half of the year.

She said several service accountability initiatives had already been put in place in various health facilities in the Region in line with repositioning the sector to be more responsive to emergency care delivery and overall health service quality improvement.

These include maternal mortality accountability forum; Quality Improvement (QI) projects; particularly in maternal and newborn care; provision of MRI, bone marrow in-plant and similar specialised services at the Greater Accra Regional Hospital at Ridge; continuing training and deployment of emergency care teams, as well as peer reviewing and action among health facilities.

She commended USAID, the Systems for Health and UBORA for their funding and technical assistance in the leadership-led QI initiatives, and applauded the hard work of health workers and partners, leading to those successes.

Dr Sarpong, however, entreated all facility leadership to remain committed and work with their teams, to sustain and mainstream the systems, structures and gains beyond the QI project outline.

Notwithstanding the gains, challenges such as the acute shortage of critical professional support staff including accountants, procurement and supply managers, Health Service administrators, clinical engineers and estate managers, persisted in the absence of financial clearance.

Similarly, physician assistants, laboratory technologist and technicians; pharmacy technicians; as well as biomedical scientists and pharmacists in health centres, polyclinics and hospitals were getting extinct due to high attrition without requisite financial clearance for replacement recruitments, she said.

Dr Sarpong said the current health infrastructural deficit in quantity and quality, both workplace and residential facilities, as well as the fleet of largely over-aged vehicles, presenting not only unsustainable cost, but also high availability and very low utilization rates due to frequent breakdowns, affected staff morale and productivity.

“Only 21 per cent of the fleet fall within the green zone of less than six years while 50 per cent are candidates for immediate disposal,” while CHPS zones and health centres lacked functional motorbikes for community-based health service delivery, she said.

Dr Sarpong said the Regional Health Directorate was collaborating with the Ghana Health Service Headquarters and other stakeholders to explore feasible options to renew the Region’s transport resources for uninterrupted quality health care delivery.

Mr Ismael Ashitey, the Greater Accra Regional Minister, acknowledged the successes chalked so far, saying: “I am aware of your hard work in the face of challenges and would like to commend you for the various operational research initiatives geared towards health service improvement, accessibility, affordability and universal health coverage”.

He encouraged the GHS to sustain and expand such interventions to enhance public understanding of the contextual issues affecting service quality and health outcomes.

He said the vision was to guarantee the right to health of all Ghanaians, through an established health sector with sustainable ability to deliver affordable, equitable and easily accessible healthcare.

He appealed to all health professionals and workers to use dialogue rather than strike actions as means to achieving ends as that was particularly critical for the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Mr Ashitey pledged the continuous support and collaboration of the Regional Administration to enhance stakeholder engagement at all levels in the area of sanitation behavioural change practices to sustain the downward trend in communicable disease-related morbidity and mortality.

Source: GNA