Health Review meetings, not rituals- Ibrahim

Sunyani (B/A) Aug. 2, GNA - Alhaji Dr. Mohammed Bin Ibrahim, Brong-Ahafo Regional Director of Health Service on Tuesday cautioned Ministry of Health Review Committees not to regard Mid-Year Review meetings as just annual rituals.

The committee members must rather go deep from the embryonic stage of collating materials for their reports to the actual review meeting to be able to identify their problems, achievements and plan for a way forward in the years ahead, he said.

The Regional Medical Director was addressing participants at a three-day 2005 Mid-Year Review Meeting and 2006-2008 planning and budgeting of Brong-Ahafo Regional Health Service in Sunyani. District Medical Directors, members of Regional, Municipal, District Health Committees and other stakeholders in health delivery system in the region attended.

Alhaj Dr. Ibrahim urged the meeting to be guided by three issues namely reflection, discussion and synthesis to be able to come out with well-planned decisions to enable the directorate to plan and budget for the year 2005 in particular and 2006-2008 in general.

On reflection, he asked the participants not to lose sight of the need to let their searchlight cover areas such as the strength, weakness, constraints or problems that confronted their stations or directorates in the period under review.

The Regional Medical Director asked them to be frank in their discussions especially on the "Progress Report on the Regional Way Forward" and the "Way Forward of the Regional Hospital".

Dr. Ibrahim asked the meeting to synthesize their thoughts to be able to see the region move to expectation in medical delivery. On planning and budgeting for years 2006-2008, the Regional Medical Health Director asked them to let their administrative role as managers lead them in selecting their priorities.

He stressed: "If for instance your Directorate's main headache was death through malaria let your budget plan reflect on malaria to reduce deaths through the sickness."

Dr Ibrahim commended the Regional Coordinating Council and people of the region for supporting the introduction of the Mutual Health Insurance Scheme.

He stressed the need for the health managers to ensure strengthening supervision to achieve the desired purpose if they could create an enabling environment for everybody.

"Enabling environment could also come out of in an atmosphere of peace, harmony and smiling faces of staff", Dr Ibrahim added. The Regional Medical Director advised the directors to simplify tasks for their staff and called for constant interaction and dialogue as another tool to ensure a congenial atmosphere at the work place and to enhance high achievement.

Dr. George Bonsu, Regional Director of Public Health, in a presentation on "Progress Report on the Regional Way Forward" blamed the administrative lapses in some of the districts, in terms of efficient and effective health delivery, on the late appointment of MCEs and DCEs. On a presentation on, "Way Forward, Regional Hospital" Mr. Thomas Tawiah of the hospital noted that the ultra-modern health facility, which was yet to be fully commissioned, was facing serious intermittent power outages, which sometimes interrupted theatre operations.

He said several attempts for Volta River Authority (VRA) to provide the hospital with its own "Dedicated Line" had not received any positive response and called for a concerted efforts by stakeholders to expeditiously rectify the situation.

At a forum, most of the districts did not like the procedure whereby little mention was made of their districts as against the wide coverage of Sunyani municipality.

Dr. Bonsu, who was the chairman for the regional planning committee, explained that what was embodied in the report from the districts was almost extracts of reports received from those districts. Dr. Saarah Akyerekoh, a private medical practitioner and member of the Regional Health Committee presided.