General News of Saturday, 26 January 2013

Source: radioxyzonline.com

Ghana's mental healthcare is unattractive - Akwasi Osei

Ghana’s Chief Psychiatrist, Dr. Akwasi Osei says mental health care in Ghana is unattractive and not interesting.

According to him, nurses and doctors who work in the sector also encounter higher occupational hazards without any incentive.

Dr. Osei said the various mental health care facilities are hugely under-resourced; a situation which he says affects the smooth running of the posts.

Dr. Osei told Breakfast XYZ that personnel working at various mental health care facilities across the country need incentives to attract others to work in that field.

“Any young nurse coming to see the hospital as it is with three nurses attending to 160 patients meaning three nurses doing the duty of 30 nurses then says no I don’t want to come into this situation, then the person does not get interested and attracted”.

Dr Akwasi Osei added that “there is higher occupational risk than you have in other occupations and yet nobody gives any extra incentive like risk allowance”.