Healthcare delivery in Ghana has come under scrutiny with all-round inadequacy rendering the service substandard. Issues of unprofessionalism, patient safety, satisfaction and insufficient facilities have been at the fore of criticisms.

Ghana’s first heart surgeon, Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, is reported to have intentions of building up to three cardiothoracic centres in Ghana to augment the operations of the only cardio centre, which was built through his personal efforts after he had repatriated his surgical skills back home from Germany.

Prof. Frimpong-Boateng would be speaking at the first Healthcare Quality GhanaWeb Forum of healthcare professionals and non-healthcare professionals to talk about quality improvement in healthcare delivery, patient safety and patient satisfaction in Ghana.

The 2013 forum is being organized to look critically at the quality of healthcare delivery in Ghana and its economic and human implications. The premise is that the quality of healthcare in this country needs improvement.

Prof Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng was the Chief Executive Officer of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra. He established the National Cardiothoracic Centre in 1992 when he returned to Ghana to practice as Ghana's first locally based cardiothoracic surgeon.

He is the former director of Ghana's National Cardiothoracic Centre, President of the Ghana Heart Foundation and the Ghana Red Cross Society.

Prof Frimpong-Boateng runs the Ghana Heart Foundation, which is responsible for paying for heart surgery for those who can’t afford the cost. He joined the University of Ghana Medical School as a lecturer in 2000 and was promoted associate professor the same year. He was made a full professor in 2002.

He also served as the head of the department of Surgery at the University of Ghana Medical School, prior to his appointment as the Chief Executive of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in 2002. He was elected to the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences in December 2002 and gave his inaugural lecture the following year as a fellow.

The forum would be at the Conference Auditorium of the Ghana College of Physicians & Surgeons in Accra on November 27 and 28.

Visit health.ghanaweb.com to register for free