National Ambulance Service bemoans infrastructural challenges

The Head of Operations at the National Ambulance Service, Foster Ansong, has bemoaned the infrastructural challenges facing the National Ambulance Service (NAS).

Speaking at the launch of the 4th biennial National Safety Conference held at the Royal Nick Hotel, Mr. Ansong listed a number of challenges facing NAS.

“NAS depends solely on budgetary allocations from the Ministry of Health and sometimes support from the National Health Insurance Authority, which like any other agency under the Ministry is not enough and releases also sometimes delay. This sometimes affects the normal operations of the Service”, he lamented.

“We also lack infrastructure. Apart from the Head Office building, there are no regional offices and almost all ambulance stations across the country are perching in fire stations and hospitals in single room offices, even though a station must have at least 5 rooms to be able to function effectively”, he added.

He said that ‘the delay in the passing of the NAS bill to provide legal backing to the Service is also a challenge’.

He argued that the NAS bill would ‘help put the necessary policies in place to attract the needed resources to enhance the operations of the Service’. Mr. Ansong disclosed that the effect of ‘no bed syndrome’ in our health facilities is also another challenge facing the Service.

“Sometimes, the ambulance crew has to move from one health facility to another, looking for a place to hand over a patient due to unavailability of a bed. It is really a frustrating and stressful exercise for the crew”.

Lack of adequate logistics was another challenge highlighted by the Chief of Operations at the National Ambulance Service.

“All stations lack basic logistics that will enable them to operate effectively and efficiently. These include appropriate personal protective equipment. The June 3 flood and fire disaster and the recent Atomic junction gas explosion exposed the Service to the inadequacies of our PPE (Personal Protective Equipment)”, he elaborated.