KATH hard hit by absence of 150 doctors

Authorities of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) are reeling under pressure over delayed replacement of 150 medical officers for housemanship. The absence of the doctors has forced management to reduce non-emergency medical services, resulting in loss of revenue.

Chief Executive, Dr. Oheneba Owusu-Danso, says medical personnel at post are overstretched. “Certainly it will affect our healthcare delivery to the extent that doctors currently available working would be overstretched. They would be called upon to carry out various functions  that previously these colleagues who have exited could have done,” he explained.

The situation also means personnel on duty should brace up for tough times ahead in an effort to hold the fort in the absence of the 150 house officers,  a situation which also means a cut in the hospital’s internally generated funds.

“It will also slow down certain processes leading to ultimate care because if you are few, go to surgery, for instance, to go and operate, it would mean that sometimes you don’t have adequate numbers of assistance for the lead surgeon and sometimes when you have to actually follow up to get other resources for the surgery such as blood,  we are going to be constraint.

“And scaling down of some elective procedures is also going to mean that we are going to lose some revenue and some surgeries rescheduled during the period will mean that some patients are going to have some longer waiting time,” he explained.

Only emergency and in-patient services are being prioritized under the current circumstances. Checks at the hospital during a visit on Thursday revealed patients who had reported for elective services such as surgery left disappointed.

Five clinical directorates; surgery, medicine, obstetrics, and gynecology as well as trauma and orthopedic and others have been operational. Less than 600 patients had been seen at the time of our visit, compared to about 1000 on a normal day.

Dr. Owusu-Danso says the hospital is already feeling the heat of the situation.

For now, patients seeking care, other than emergency services, may have to wait until the Finance Ministry  gives financial clearance for new house officers.

Dr. Owusu-Danso fears dire consequences in the coming weeks, though he assures efforts are being made to avert a crisis.

“This problem has become more acute this week. Going into next week, we predict that, severity could worsen and that is the reason why we believe that emergencies should continue but depending on a daily assessment of the situation, elective cases and those cases that may not require emergency interventions may be scaled down,” he warned.
Source: http://myjoynews.com