SEND-Ghana, a Non-governmental Organisation (NGO) has called on stakeholders in the health sector to review the distribution of health personnel across the country especially in the three Regions of the north.

A Clients Satisfaction Survey conducted by SEND-Ghana across 30 selected Districts in Greater Accra, Northern, Upper East and West Regions revealed that one of the very critical issues that influence health service satisfaction was the availability of health personnel.

The survey covered seven Districts in the Upper East Region, namely Bolgatanga, Bawku and Kassana Nankana Municipalities, Bongo, Talensi, Garu and Builsa North Districts, and targeted over 2000 households that provided data on their perception of the quality of services they received at the various facilities that they visited over the years.

Speaking at a District Policy Dialogue session in Bolgatanga to present the survey findings, Mr Jonathan Dery, the Upper East Project Officer of SEND – Ghana, said the survey showed that there were adequate number of nurses in the country but the issue was “how to get these nurses across the various Regions and Districts where their services are most needed.”

He said the study found out that there were more health personnel especially doctors and nurses in the Greater Accra Region than was needed whereas in the three Regions of the North, there was a huge gap which accounted for some of the delays patients encountered at the various health facilities.

The Project Officer said it was important for the Municipal and District Assemblies to work at improving the health system to make sure that facilities were provided with the necessary accommodations and furnishing for health personnel to operate effectively.

“For instance in the construction of Community based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) Compounds which our Assemblies have provided over the years but it is important that we begin to look at a complete package where the CHPS compound comes with accommodation and comfort items,” he suggested.

Mr Dery further brought to bear the essence of CHPS compounds in the various communities, and reminded stakeholders that CHPS as the name suggests has a very critical role to play in the delivery of health care.

He said the CHPS concept was introduced to make health care accessible to the people and suggested that every CHPS should have a Community Health Committee to serve as a Governing Board made up of community members who would ensure that it was run effectively.

Madam Estella Abazesi, the Senior Health Service Administrator at the Bolgatanga Municipal Health Directorate, said the CHPS concept was started in the Upper East Region and was later adopted and ran effectively by the Upper West Region.

According to her, the concept was effective in the Upper West Region due to strong backing from community members through their various Health Committees, “so now they are way ahead of us with community participation in CHPS, we really have lost”, she admitted, and disclosed that trainings were ongoing for all 22 CHPS compounds in the Municipality, to whip up community participation.
GNA