Severe shortage of staff accommodation is crippling the operations of the Nyinahin Government Hospital in the Atwima-Mponua District.

The authorities say the situation, where many of the nurses and other medical professionals stay long distances away from the facility, was affecting prompt response to emergencies, especially during the night. There was also concern about security and safety, with rampant criminal attacks on the health workers.

Alhaji Dr Adamu Al-Hassan, the Medical Superintendent, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that “this is a major worry and a challenge to management of the hospital.”

The GNA had visited the facility under STAR-Ghana’s sponsored media auditing and tracking of development projects, a multi donor pooled initiative launched to put a spotlight on how state resources were helping to improve the quality of life of the people, particularly the rural population.

The goal was to aid transparency, promote accountability and good governance. The hospital is the only major facility in the district and has been providing health care to the people, who are predominantly cocoa and food crop farmers.

Dr Al-Hassan said there was the need to take steps to address the staff housing problem and appealed to government and the district assembly to act quickly. The necessary conditions must be created to enable the health professionals to smoothly operate, he stressed.