Sunyani Regional Hospital cries for more PPEs

Correspondence from Bono Region

It has emerged that the Sunyani Regional Hospital has not got enough Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) to be able to deal with an outbreak of the novel coronavirus.

Even though the facility has the infrastructures to handle a possible case of COVID-19, frontline health personnel lack the necessary protective gears.

The Medical Director, Dr E.K. Amponsah, has revealed that the situation puts health personnel at the facility at risk as the facility is among the two treatment centres established in the Bono region.

According to him, the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) which include face shields, gloves, goggles and glasses, gowns, head covers, masks, respirators, and shoe covers are key at this critical moment as they protect wearers against the transmission of germs through contact and droplet routes.

He reveals that despite their importance in the CIVD-19 fight, attempts by management to get enough for use at the facility have been unsuccessful due to several bureaucratic procedures.

Speaking in an interview with Ghanaweb, Dr Amponsah decried the seriousness of the issue and pleaded with NGOs, Civil Society Organisations and the general public to come to their aid.

“It is sad but the reality is that we do not have enough PPEs at this facility to handle an outbreak of coronavirus. There are some but they are not enough to be used by all the front- liners in an event of a possible outbreak in the region.

“We are therefore appealing to the general public to help in that regard since we have an impending problem on our hands”.

Meanwhile, some nurses who spoke to this portal on condition of strict anonymity have threatened to withdraw their services should management fail to procure enough Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) for use in the coming days.