Respect the rights of patients Quayson

Health professionals have been told to respect the human rights of the sick and to treat them with dignity.

Deputy Commissioner of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Mr Richard A. Quayson, said it was completely unacceptable for patients to be abused, humiliated, or mistreated by health facilities.

He said it was time human right issues were given more attention, adding that, all would have to operate within the rules of acceptable conduct.

He was speaking at the end of a training course held jointly for selected staff of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) and final-year nursing students in Kumasi.

More than 180 people participated in the programme, designed to aid them to have better appreciation of the fundamental rights of patients and professional integrity.

It was organized by the Commission, in collaboration with the Ghana Health Service (GHS).

Mr Quayson condemned reports of human rights violation, abuses and other acts of impunity perpetrated by some health workers, and said these were damaging the image of the profession.

He spoke of plans to integrate human rights into the curriculum of the nursing training institutions.

Mrs Matilda Bansah, Principal of the KATH Nursing Training College, described the course as a right step that would help to give the health profession a positive image.

She said it would assist the workers to show humanity as they performed their duties.