Upper West health facilities cannot host Student-Doctors

Wa, Nov. 17, GNA - None of the numerous health facilities in the Upper West Region is qualified to host student-doctors on their housemanship, due to lack of clinical specialists in the region. As a result, all the student-doctors that were slated for the region would have to be re-posted to other regions, where they would understudy experienced clinical staff.

Mr George Hikah Benson, Deputy Upper West Regional Minister announced these on Thursday during the third Annual Conference of Senior Managers of Ghana Health Service at Wa.

He expressed disappointment that a region that lacked medical staff was denied another opportunity, due to lack of key medical staff and called on the Ghana Health Service to consider sending specialists to the region to enable doctors on housemanship to benefit from them, as their presence was so crucial to health delivery in deprived communities.

He lauded the idea of bringing back the Enrolled Nursing system, which he said would not only enhance fast health delivery, but would also boost the confidence of rural dwellers in health personnel, as many more nurses would be trained to man health facilities in the country. Mr Benson also appealed to the Ghana Health Service to consider engaging their experienced retired medical staff to solve the perennial staff shortage, as a result of constant brain drain in the country. Professor Agyeman Badu Akosa, Director General of Ghana Health Service said plans were far advanced for the re-introduction of the Enrolled Nursing programme, as part of the Services' policy to increase the human resource base.

He also announced that the Service would by next year establish a scholarship scheme for children of Health professionals, as a morale booster for them to accept postings to all parts of the country. Professor Akosa gave the assurance that they would do everything possible to ensure that working in the sector becomes attractive, as a way of discouraging brain drain in the country.

Naa Banawnini Sando II, paramount chief of the Nadowli Traditional Area, who chaired the function appealed to various district assemblies to establish model schools to encourage professionals working in the districts to carry their families to their working districts. The three-day conference, which attracted regional directors of GHS, administrators and other senior staff from all over the country, would offer an opportunity for the health managers to map out strategies towards the improvement of health delivery in the country. Apart from that, several comparisons would also be made for them to draw inspiration from successful projects in parts of the country.