Workshop on ethics held for health workers and midwives

A workshop to sensitize community health workers and midwives on work ethics, proper client services, and enhanced customer care, to improve maternal and child healthcare delivery at Community Health Improvement Centres (CHPS), ended over the week end in Bolgatanga.

The programme was organized by SEND Ghana, a Policy, Research and Advocacy Non Governmental Organisation (NGOs) in collaboration with the Ghana Health Service. Miss Rachael Gyabaah, Upper East Regional Programme Officer of SEND Ghana, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, said her outfit continued vision to ensure that people especially the poor received proper delivery of health services and other pro poor interventions was vital.

Miss Gyabaah said research on study on such services at health facilities especially at some CHPS compounds revealed complaints by clients of abusive interactions with health workers with consequent withdrawal of clients in accessing services and resorting to other alternative health services She stressed that durbars held in some communities also pin pointed poor attitudes by health workers as what prevented pregnant women from attending ante-natal and other health care services.

Placing emphasis on poor attitudes of health workers towards clients and other factors, she said was what informed the basis for the sensitization workshop. She noted that the outcome of the sanitization workshop would enable SEND Ghana and the Ghana Health Service to discuss challenges and dialogue to find ways to address the problems, at both the facility and policy levels, for improved health care delivery.

She indicated that through dialogue commitments would be reached and follow up made to ensure that partners fulfilled their roles and responsibilities for improved services and reduction in maternal and child deaths. She enumerated some achievements the collaboration with GHS had made, citing improved levels of community involvement in the CHPS management.

Ms Estella Abazesi, Administrator of the Bolgatanga Municipal Health Directorate of the Ghana Health Service, took the partners, made up of midwives, nurses and community health nurses, through the code of ethics and the patients charter. Emerging issues discussed were lack of staff leading to poor focus antenna processes, refusal of clients to make follow ups on their visits and vice versa and poor attitudes of health workers.

Participants also enumerated lack of laboratory services at CHPS compounds, and the long distances and duration pregnant women take to acquire such services and travel hours affected focus antenna.

Mrs Olivia Achuliba, Deputy Director, public health nursing, advised the participants to sacrifice with the available resources available, and to do their best since such good attitudes yielded dividends. She was grateful to SEND Ghana for organizing the event for midwives to share experience and find ways to improve on their performances.