To meet the healthcare needs of mental health sector, Mrs.Matilda Amissah -Arthur. The wife of the Vice President, on Tuesday made a surprise visit to the Accra Psychiatric Hospital and assured medical staff and patients that Government is on course to help improve the facilities for better care for patients.

During the visit,Mrs.Matilda Amissah-Arthur interacted with health personnel, patients and authorities, saying that her visit was to interact , listen observe, donate and also forms part of moves to effect a change in attitude towards mental health patients, deal with stigma and other issues.

Mrs. Matilda Amissah-Arthur was briefed by Dr. Pinaman Appau , the Chief Psychiatrist of the Hospital, who described the visit as a touching and historic.

She said this was the first time that a sitting 2nd Lady has visited the facility that is 110 years old .An inspection by the Second Lady to some selected wards including the children wards later showed that the facility was not in the best of shape.

Mrs. Matilda Amissah-Arthur used the occasion to call for a strong engagement between the public and private sectors to form partnerships and help address some of the problems in the health sector.

She said as government is working to address challenges facing the health sector there is the need for a continuous private sector participation in the sector.

She donated assorted food items and medical equipment’s to the hospital as part of her advocacy to support the unfortunate ones and less privileged in society, so that the hospital can properly treat their patients with chronic disease, such as mental health.

The wife of the Vice President, Mrs. Matilda Amissah-Arthur, further reechoed her call to benevolent originations to continue to show compassion to the poor and vulnerable in society. This she stated that the issue of quality health delivery was important for the socio-economic development of the country.

Mrs. Amissah-Arthur commended the health personnel at the Health Centre for their dedication to work, especially their commitment to involve and consult other partners despite the inadequate resources.

She said going through their partnership program it was laudable, especially complimenting government’s efforts in providing quality health care for its people.

However, she assured them that, government is working hard to address the bottlenecks in the health system such as modifying the facility that is 110 years that needs a lot of upgrading to meet its required standard.

On her part the director of the hospital said ageing and crumbling infrastructure pose a huge problem and owing to the virtual neglect suffered by this Hospital over the years, it has become crucial, in fact more than critical, to re-equip the entire facility to make it justify its existence and to be able to continue to render the needed crucial services to our fellow citizens who access the care provided by this Hospital.

Roofs with gaping holes, broken down toilet facilities, some horrible consulting rooms and wards in catastrophic conditions are a common place at this Hospital.