U/E: Staff shortage affecting health delivery – Health Directorate

The Upper East Regional Health Directorate has bemoaned that, acute shortage of critical human resources and staggering staff attrition is negatively affecting health delivery in the region.

According to the Directorate, a total of 186 health personnel sought to be transferred out of the region in 2022 creating a vacuum for replacement.

Speaking at the 2022 annual performance review meeting in Bolgatanga, Regional Director of health services, Dr. Emmanuel Kofi Dzotsi, said, the acute shortage of human resources and logistics is hindering effective and efficient healthcare delivery and thus appealed to government to recruit personnel to ensure seamless service delivery.

“The acute shortage of some critical human resources such as medical officers, specialists, physician assistants, pharmacists, supply chain practitioners and laboratory scientists. Inadequate residential and office accommodation is affecting health workers’ attraction and retention,” he said.

He stressed, “inadequate and erratic supplies of medicines and non-medicines to the regional medical stores is one of the major challenges facing the region. Tracer medicines availability in the regional medical store reduced from 74.6% in 2021 to 39.7% in 2022. This has made most of the health facilities in the region lack essential medicines which are affecting quality health delivery”.

Dr. Dzotsi appealed to government and health partners to support the facility to overcome the challenges facing health delivery in the region.

He lamented that the directorate attracted six doctors to the region in 2022, but the newly recruited medical doctors posted to the region failed to assume duties.

Dr. Dzotsi hinted that the review will fashion out initiatives geared towards retaining essential health personnel, improving maternal health and restocking the regional medical stores to enhance quality health care delivery and patient satisfaction.

Source: citinewsroom.com