The Ghana Health Service (GHS) Governing Council will soon introduce appreciation packages for health professionals to encourage them to contribute more to health care delivery.
“We are pushing as a Council for the appreciation of health care workers. Every year, we see the appreciation of farmers, teachers and certain groups, but we have never seen appreciation of health care workers at the national level,” Dr Sefah Sarpong Bediakoh, Chairman of the Governing Council, said.
He said the Council was working to ensure that healthcare professionals across the country were recognized and appreciated for their significant contributions to healthcare delivery.
“When COVID-19 hit, they were at the forefront, and in all health situations, they are at the forefront. Sometimes they risk their lives, and so we need to appreciate them as well,” Dr Bediakoh said.
The Chairman, in the company of some members of the Council and officials of the Regional Health Committee and the Health Directorate, said this when the Council called on Mr Stephen Yakubu, the Regional Minister, as part of a visit to the Region.
He said the visit was part of the Council’s initiative to touch base with health care professionals in the regions and districts to familiarize themselves with activities at the various health facilities to enhance policy formulation and improve working conditions in the health sector.
Dr Bediako said the Upper East was the only region that had nominated all Health Committee members from the regional to the municipal and district levels and commended stakeholders in the region for their concern in health care.
“It tells us how serious the Region is about taking health care to the next level, and as a Council, we are also in support of all the health initiatives that need to be done to make sure that the people of Upper East Region receive their fair share of the Sustainable Development Goals in relation to health.”
Dr Bediakoh thanked the leadership of the Regional Coordinating Council, staff of the GHS and all stakeholders in the region for their contributions towards effective health care delivery, and urged them to continue to support the sector.
The Regional Minister expressed worry about the lack of basic equipment at the Regional Hospital, which was the major referral centre for the region, compelling doctors to refer patients out of the region, especially to the Tamale Teaching Hospital for further management of health conditions.
Mr Yakubu said with the required equipment installed, more health professionals, especially doctors, would be attracted to work in the region to ease the stress patients on referral went through to seek health care in other facilities outside the region.
He said construction work on the fence wall of the hospital needed to start immediately to prevent encroachment on the land.
“We cannot allow that money to go back to the government chest. Whatever we have to do to start that wall, we have to make sure we do it and complete the wall so that the money does not return to the government chest,” the Minister said.
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