Professor Ohene Adjei, Chief Executive of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) has urged health professionals in the hospital to desist from diverting patients to private clinics for personal gains.

He said staff should also stop collecting illegal monies and commit themselves to their work to make the hospital a class centre of excellence.

Professor Ohene Adjei was speaking at the official elevation and inauguration of the Oral Health Unit into a Directorate status in Kumasi on Friday.

The Unit was carved from the Dental, Eye and Ear, Nose and Throat (DEENT) directorate, following the establishment of the second Dental School at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology for training of dentists and dental surgeons in the country.

The directorate had already been accredited by the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons as a training centre for post graduate studies in all the dental disciplines.

Professor Ohene Adjei urged the management of the new directorate to work to develop and expand the various sub specialties such as the orthodontic, paedodontic, restorative as well as maxillofacial surgery, and strengthen them to provide quality service to patients.

He also urged the management to also strengthen its outreach programmes to bring specialised dental care or oral health services to under-served communities, especially in rural areas.

Dr Yaw Aduakoh, Head of the Directorate, thanked the Board and Management of the hospital for elevating the unit into a directorate and pledged to work hard to justify its status.

He, however, appealed to the management to support the new directorate with the needed logistics and equipment to enhance its operations.

Dr Charles Lewis Bartels Desbordes, Board Chairman of KATH, appealed to the staff of the new directorate to make their services readily accessible, appropriate and acceptable to their clients.