The Effutu Municipal Government Hospital as at June ending, recorded one maternal death, as against one last year, and zero in 2013, during the same period.

Mr. Frimpong Hayford, Administrator of the Hospital, disclosed this at the 2015 mid-year performance review meeting organized at the premises of the hospital in Winneba.

He said the maternal death the hospital recorded, was as a result of late referral from one of the sub-health facilities in the Municipality.

He said that was not the best, and therefore urged health practitioners and midwives in all sub-health facilities, to advise pregnant women to attend ante-natal clinic, and also take the full course of medication given them as directed.

According to him, Management of the hospital had put in place measures, including early referrals by all health facilities in and nearby, total support and co-operation from family members of pregnant women sent there.

He emphasized the need for midwives in health facilities in the Municipality to collaborate with the trained traditional birth Attendants, and encourage them to immediately refer their clients to the hospital for delivery, if the need arose.

The administrator said as part of activities for the hospital to achieve the Millennium Goal Five, workshops were being organized for personnel, as well as those in the sub-health facilities, for them to be more proactive in accordance with the code of conduct of their profession.

Mr Frimpong disclosed that still births recorded in the facility during the period reduced from 12 in 2014 to 8 this year, adding that the reduction was as a result of measures put in place by Management to ensure that personnel exhibited professionalism in the execution of their duties.

He said malaria continued to top the 10 diseases recorded at the OPD, with 1,0270 cases, followed by anemia with 8, 012, skin disease 4,208, pregnancy-related complications 3,360, hypertension 2, 340, and septicemia last with 789.

He said 1,030 deliveries were also recorded during the period, as against 1,258 in 2014, and 1,026 in 2013, and added that HIV positive cases diagnosed also increased to 18 this year, as against 8 last year, and 4 in 2013.

The administrator indicated that total OPD attendance also reduced slightly to 31,371 during the period under review, as against 32,913 in 2014, and added that out of the total, 27,007 were NHIS Card bearers, as against 25,268 in 2014.

He stated that from the beginning of the year, challenges encountered included poor financial inflow, late NHIS reimbursement, inadequate supplies due to lack of funds, congestion at the OPD, unhealthy staff attitude still persisted, filing space and difficulty in getting Ambulance for referrals.

He, therefore, appealed to philanthropists, corporate bodies and other benevolent organizations, to come to their aid to help promote health care delivery in the area.