Midwife calls for security for CHPS compound

Madam Faustina Lami Abatera, the Midwife in charge of the Kolinvai Community-Based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) compound located in the East Mumprusi Municipality of the North East Region has called for security guards to protect the facility and medical equipment.

She said the facility which has a nurses’ quarters attached, has been without security guards for the past one year and their lives were in danger, especially at night when clients sought medical services.

“If we had a security man, clients who come knocking on our doors at midnight will first be seen by the security before they get to us. If they are bad people pretending to be sick so as to harm us, the security will detect it.”

Madam Abatera expressed worry that “Clients come straight to knock on our doors at midnight; we could be attacked, if we open our doors to attend to them.”

She made the call when the Ghana News Agency (GNA) visited the facility as part of its tour of the newly created North East Region to assess the level of development a year on after the area gained Regional status.

She explained that unlike other CHPS compounds that were non-residential, those that were residential needed security since the entire area knew the workers.

The Kolinvai CHPS compound, which is located several kilometres away from Gambaga, the Municipal capital, was constructed in 2018 by the United States Agency for International Development with support from the community, and serves a population of about 4,340 people.

Madam Abatera who is the only Midwife in the community, assisted by Mr Iddrisu Mohammed, a Nurse, disclosed that they attended to clients from Gushiegu in the Northern Region, and further appealed for staff and orderlies to support them to deliver quality health care to members of the community.

She said they mostly recorded severe malaria, anaemia, diarrhoeal and labour cases, and noted that “We refer those we cannot manage to the Baptist Medical Centre at Nalerigu, the Regional capital.”

In the case of expectant mothers, the Midwife said those who could not deliver Per Vagina (PV) after examination, were equally referred immediately including; those whose babies developed complications after delivery.

When the GNA contacted the Municipal Chief Executive for the area, Mr Danladi Abdul-Nashir on the issue of security for the facility, he said the Assembly tried to post some personnel under the Youth Employment Agency (YEA) to the facility, but the Ghana Health Service said their Internally Generated Funds could not pay them.