The management of Korle Bu Teaching Hospital has appealed to the government and relevant health authorities to recruit more doctors and nurses to address staff shortages and improve healthcare delivery at Ghana’s leading referral hospital.
The hospital’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Yakubu Seidu Adam, said additional medical personnel were urgently needed to strengthen patient care and ease the growing pressure on critical departments, particularly the Accident and Emergency Centre.
Speaking during a briefing with members of Parliament’s Health Committee, Dr. Adam revealed that the hospital’s 64-bed Accident and Emergency Centre was struggling to accommodate the large number of accident victims and emergency patients referred from various parts of the country each day.
According to him, the shortage of permanent healthcare professionals was affecting the hospital’s capacity to provide adequate medical attention, especially in emergency and intensive care units.
Korle Bu Teaching Hospital Faces Shortage of Permanent Medical Staff
Dr. Adam explained that although Korle Bu Teaching Hospital has a significant number of doctors, many are medical trainees who leave the facility after completing their training programmes.
He noted that the hospital’s role as a teaching and training institution means that a considerable proportion of its medical workforce is not permanently employed by the facility.
“This is a training institution. We have a number of doctors, but when we look at our numbers, most of them are not our staff. It’s a training institution; they come, we train them, and they go,” he said.
The hospital’s CEO stressed that recruiting more permanent medical officers would help maintain adequate staffing levels and ensure continuity in the delivery of emergency healthcare services.
He added that additional doctors and nurses would improve the hospital’s ability to respond to medical emergencies, manage critically ill patients and provide timely treatment.
Korle Bu Calls for More Nurses to Improve Patient Care
Beyond the shortage of doctors, Dr. Adam highlighted the need to recruit more nurses to support healthcare delivery across the hospital.
He explained that nurses play a vital role in patient monitoring, emergency response, medication administration and the provision of essential clinical care.
Increasing the number of nurses, alongside permanent medical officers, would help strengthen teamwork among healthcare professionals and improve the quality and timeliness of treatment for patients.
Dr. Adam disclosed that management had already communicated the staffing challenges to the hospital’s Director of Human Resources and the Minister of Health.
However, he used the engagement with Parliament’s Health Committee to renew the call for additional healthcare workers to address the growing demands on the facility.
Korle Bu Seeks Improved Emergency Care Infrastructure
The staffing concerns come amid broader calls for improvements in emergency healthcare infrastructure and services in Ghana.
Management has also advocated the construction of a new facility to ease congestion at the existing Accident and Emergency Centre and improve the hospital’s capacity to handle emergency cases.
With patients referred to Korle Bu Teaching Hospital from across the country, expanding emergency care facilities and increasing the number of permanent healthcare professionals could help address pressure on essential medical services.
The hospital’s appeal highlights the importance of adequate healthcare funding, medical staff recruitment and investment in hospital infrastructure to strengthen Ghana’s health system.
Addressing these challenges would support more efficient emergency treatment, improve patient care and help ensure that critically ill patients receive timely medical attention.
Source: newsthemegh.com