A 2019 Performance Review of the Hohoe Municipal Health Directorate has revealed that inadequate and limited number of some crucial staff and high numbers of non-established staff for the Hohoe Municipal Hospital has led to reduction in service utilization of the hospital.
The services, Out-Patient Department (OPD) attendance, admission rate and deliveries dropped by three point two per cents, two per cent and three per cents respectively while there was an overwhelming public dissatisfaction with the hospital’s services.
Mr. Serene Akpanya, Administrator of the Hohoe Municipal Hospital speaking at 2019 performance review meeting on the theme, “Enhancing health service delivery through community ownership,” said the inadequate number of staff had resulted in pressure on the existing workers of the hospital, long waiting time at the OPD and laboratories.
He said out of a total of 623 required staffing norm of the hospital, 456 number of workers were on record, 32 were in school and 488 represented the actual number of workers at post, with the hospital being in need of 167 workers to complement the staffing norm for quality healthcare delivery in and around the Municipality.
Mr. Akpanya said the 488 actual workers at post included 15 medical officers, 53 midwives, 192 nurses, 23 allied health staff, 73 health administration and support services as permanent staff and 128 casual staff of the Hospital.
He said although the Hospital had received posting of three specialists in dental, obstetrics and public health, only one was currently at post, adding that three pediatric nurses had returned from school and helping the Hospital deliver efficient and quality services.
Mr. Akpanya said other challenges of the Hospital were delay in reimbursement of National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) claims, high indebtedness to suppliers, shortage of healthcare supplies and logistics and abandonment of planned projects.
He said limited accommodation for emergency staff was a problem the Hospital faced and called on traditional leaders to help the hospital in providing a “resting place” for staff.
Mr. Akpanya noted that in some communities, residents who were healthcare providers extended voluntary services to health facilities in their vicinity whenever they were on vacation and challenged locals in that capacity to offer their professional services to the Hospital anytime they were available.
The Administrator said despite the challenges facing the Hospital it had achieved successes under the year in review including a feasibility study on installation of oxygen plant, architectural work on construction of Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Teleconsultation unit and renovation of nurse manager’s residential accommodation.
He said the Hospital also had adequate blood donations to take care of obstetrics emergencies, mechanization of two additional boreholes, procured equipment to augment equipment state of NICU and commencement of procurement process for equipment for NICU and a second theater for the Hospital.
Mr Akpanya said the Hospital also got functional public health unit and an emergency department with the presence of a surgeon with increase in medical and surgical services from 500 cases in 2017 to 1900 cases in 2019.
