Kumasi, Feb. 3, GNA - The Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) undertakes regular surveys to gauge patient's perception and expectation of its services to guide it towards the formulation of better health care policies and services.

The results of these surveys have helped management to design and institute training programmes to equip members of staff with new skills to deliver higher quality clinical care to patients.

Mr I. Offeh-Gyimah, Director of Administration of KATH, who disclosed this at an orientation course for newly recruited members of staff in Kumasi on Wednesday, said the new approach has gradually led to greater public confidence and patronage of its services.

The newly recruited staff included nurses, accounting personnel, a neurosurgeon among others.

Mr Offeh-Gyimah said the vision of management is to make KATH a medical centre of excellence within the next five years, a goal which can only be achieved through qualitative rise in the standards of services provided to the public.

"When patients come to KATH, we want them to go home knowing very well that they have received the best services possible, hence the decision to constantly appraise our operations and public perceptions about our services", he explained.

Mr Offeh-Gyimah said as part of efforts to attain the centre of excellence status, management was also making huge efforts towards the improvement of clinical care through a number of strategies including training, re-training and upgrading of facilities.

"In addition, management has also divided the hospital into nine clinical directorates and two non-clinical directorates to promote efficiency and provision of specialised care of the highest quality possible".

He explained that the directorates are regarded as sub-hospitals with their own management teams, which are in-charge of the day-to-day administration of all the units under them.

The management team for each clinical directorate is made up of a head, lead clinician, nurse manager, an administrator, a pharmacist and an accountant.

"This arrangement has led to significant improvement in service delivery as decisions are taken quickly and problems resolved in time without necessarily getting to the Chief Executive's office".

Mr Offeh-Gyimah advised the newly recruited staff to strive for excellence, work as a team and be proud of working at the hospital as developments clearly indicate that, "KATH was destined for greater things in the field of medical care".