Koforidua, Feb. 23, GNA - The Eastern Regional Minister, Dr Kwasi Akye= m Apea-Kubi, has suggested to medical specialists in Regional Hospitals to arrange and work with their colleague medical doctors at the District hospitals at least once in a week. He said by so doing, the specialists could help share experiences and knowledge with the medical officers to improve the referral system from the district hospitals to the regional hospitals. Dr Apea-Kubi gave the advice when he visited the Eastern Regional Hospital in Koforidua on Monday to interact with the doctors and other staf= f of the hospital.

Earlier the Regional Minister had paid similar visit to the St Joseph Hospital in Koforidua. The Regional Minister, who was a lecturer at the University of Ghana Medical School, said experience that would be gained by medical practitioners in working with their colleague specialists would be greater than the organization of refresher courses for the medical doctors at the district hospitals. Dr Apea-Kubi said his suggestion could also help improve the relationshi= p between the medical officers and the specialists.

Dr Apea-Kubi, who was a staff of the Regional Hospital in the 1970s, expressed his appreciation to the medical personnel of the hospital for the good work they were doing. The Medical Director of the Hospital, Dr Daniel Asare, said the hospita= l was graded 93A" Secondary Level by the National Health Insurance Authori= ty (NHIA). He said the hospital also won the best Health Service Provider award in the Eastern Region for 2010 from the NHIA. Dr Asare said the hospital was faced with shortage of nursing staff which sharply reduced from 254 in 2009 to 207 last year. He said some of the buildings and equipment of the hospital were old with high maintenance cost and therefore appealed to the regional minister for support. At the St. Joseph Hospital, the Medical Director of the hospital, Dr Ebenezer Akrofi-Mantey, said the hospital was offering specialist services but the NHIA was paying for primary level fees, a situation that was making the hospital to lose a lot of money. He therefore appealed to the Regional Minister to take up the issue.