The Gushegu District Director of Health Services, Mr. Mark Bugri Ayaba has called on the Ministry of Health to post at least 103 additional health personnel to facilitate quality healthcare delivery at the Ultra-modern Gushegu Government Hospital and to ensure maximum utilization of the facility.

The Gushegu Government Hospital complex, which was commissioned in 2008 by The past government, serves as the only Health facility with the best of modern equipments in ’the whole of the Northern Region. However, it cannot fully meet its target of ensuring quality health service for the over 60.000 peopie in the Gushegu district, because it has only 56 personnel and one Medical doctor out of the 259 staff required.

Mr Ayaba disclosed that out of the 56personnel, 38 are Health Extension Officers, also known as “Zoom Nurses” under the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP), one medical Doctor, three midwives, one laboratory technician and 13 nurses. He indicated that almost all the departments, including the OPD,
Laboratory, the Theatre, Maternity ward, Emergency ward, Dispensary and the ICT centre among others are lacking staff.

The District Health Director said, the Gushegu Government Hospital currently requires about six additional laboratory technicians, four additional medical doctors, seven additional midwives and at least sixty more nurses to ensure full operation of the facility. Mr. Ayaba said about 260 patients visited the hospital each day and about 86 women were delivered of their children every month,

He also complained about the lack of residential accommodation for staff, means of transport and insufficient water supply and appealed to the authorities for a solution. The only Medical Doctor of the Gushegu Hospital, Dr. Azaaro Nsoh in an interview with The Chronicle, complained about the difficulties in attending to over 200 people each day.
According IO him, he has no time to go for a break or travel out of the district.

Dr. Nsoh admitted that exhaustion in the mind or the body could sometimes lead to some preventable mistakes during surgical operations and, therefore, appealed to government to critically look at the situation.

The District Chief Executive for Gushegu,Hon. Fuseini Alhassan, ,who together with other officials of the assembly joined this reporter to visit the Hospital and interact with the staff, expressed grave worry about the situation and promised to lobby for the establishment of a Health Training School in the district.

He also promised to put up decent residential accommodation for staff of fhe Hospital and provide adequate water to the Hospital. The DCE also pledged to send the concerns of the hospital staff to the authorities for prompt actions.

Mr. Fuaeini Alhassan also called on the government to construct the major roads in the District so encourage Doctors and nurses to accept posting to the District.

The Chronicle/DS