Accra Psychiatric Hospital in tatters

The Accra Psychiatric Hospital is still in a sorry state unbefitting of a third world country like Ghana though the hospital has benefited from support from governments and private organisations.

Some of the facilities at the hospital are currently in a tattered state and pose danger to the inmates and staff of the hospital.

The hospital, which was built in 1904 and commissioned in 1906, currently has about 422 patients some of whom have been compelled to use a dirty worn-out place as bathroom.

Some of the wards to accommodate the inmates are also in a very bad shape and stuffed with outdated metal beds without mattresses.

One of the ceilings leak badly whenever it rains because it is tattered and has open cracks with electrical wires hanging loosely and dangerously in the room.

As for the toilet facility, the least said about it the better as it is in a state that is clearly an eyesore.

During a visit to the facility, the DAILY HERITAGE found that the washroom for the staff and inmates smelt badly and produced a choking stench in the area.

When the paper caught up with some of the inmates who appeared to be recovering, they complained about the facilities there and called for help. One man said they hardly take their bath because of the deplorable nature of their bathroom.

Challenges

Reacting to the bad state of infrastructure at the Accra Psychiatric Hospital when the DAILY HERITAGE contacted the hospital, Mr. Emmanuel Febiri, an official with the communications unit of the hospital, expressed worry the hospital indeed lacked many facilities needed to enhance operations: “You can see for yourselves, the stench we have to deal with”. He said the wards in which the patients sleep are not in the best of conditions.

He also mentioned the facility’s inability to provide food for the inmates and stated that the quantity of food given to patients had reduced drastically, which could lead to serious complications, as the drugs given to mental patients needed a lot of energy to work.

Mr. Febiri added that the financial situation at the facility was not getting any better, noting that the welfare of the patients was their topmost priority, but the current situation had made it difficult for progress to be made. When asked about how they have been coping for the past months, he said they had been surviving on donations from beloved Ghanaians. He said some gave money, bags of rice, oil toiletries and other items to support the facility.

He expressed gratitude to all donors and appealed to the general public to emulate the examples of others and support the hospital.

“The government alone cannot address all our needs”, Mr. Febiri stated. It will be recalled that staff of the Psychiatric Hospital in July last year threatened to lay down their tools due to the deplorable state of the facility.

According to Mr. Febiri, the then government owed us an amount of GHC 4.1 million, but gave only GHC 1.5 million and promised to pay the rest after the 2016 elections if they were still in power.

“They assured us that they would factor it in the next year’s budget or make the necessary arrangements for that and hand it over to a new government if they were to lose the election”.

He said the amount given to them was insignificant as they purchased drugs, detergents, food and other logistics with it.

“We were with an amount of GHC 350,000.00 as cash in hand which did not yield much,” he added.

Consequently after the change of government, nothing had really been done even in the first half of the year.

Mr. Febiri disclosed that the management were still in negotiations with the government to get the necessary assistance.