The pressure from the nurses’ and midwives’ strike is choking Kumasi’s private hospitals.
The stalemate has also impacted referral cases.
The Suntreso Government Hospital, which was once a bustling facility, is now abandoned, according to William Evans-Nkum of 3news.
The facility is basically in ruins due to the nurses’ strike.
Among the units that are negatively impacted is the Mother and Baby Unit.
Dr. Ashura Bakari, a pediatrician at Suntreso Hospital, stated. “Not many hospitals are taking care of newborn babies and the doctors for as much as we are able to do the work that nurses do but we are not, our number is not as much as the nurses number, so it’s very difficult for us to continue taking care of very sick babies on admission in the absence of our nurses.”
“Ordinarily you’re supposed to have a nurse working on this particular baby, but it is the doctor who has to abandon the consulting room and all other duties just to be here and ensure that she delivers,” she added.
At the private medical facility Anwiam Hospital, the situation is different.
“Surgeries have increased significantly. Over the last, I would say about four days, we’ve done over 20 deliveries and over half of these were referrals that required emergency caesarean sections,” Dr. Yaw Antwi stated.
“The labor ward is also seeing astronomical admissions,” he continued. And they come in continuously throughout the whole night because when they go to Komfo Anokye they are sent back, they are sent back here. Emergency cases are coming back.”
“We have to manage, we have to do the best that we can,” stated Dr. Gabriel Boakye, Medical Director of Anwiam Hospital.
Sometimes we refer patients, and when they return to you, we do everything we can to help them, to the best of our knowledge and skill.
As the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA) strike continues to cripple public healthcare services nationwide, Belinda Tetteh reports that private hospitals in the Bono East Region are seeing a sharp increase in Out-Patient Department (OPD) numbers.
Because public facilities are either completely closed or functioning at a reduced capacity as a result of the departure of midwifery and nursing personnel, patients are increasingly seeking necessary medical care at private facilities, which results in packed waiting rooms and overstretched resources.
The Fiapre-Sunyani Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA) Hospital is having a hard time keeping up with the influx of patients while having a small staff.
Enoch Opoku Nketia, the administrator of SDA Hospital, revealed alarming data showing that over 100% of patients attended the outpatient department (OPD).
Critical sectors like the Emergency Room and the Maternity and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) are especially affected by the rising demand for healthcare services.
The institution is currently running over capacity, according to NICU nurse Linda Afful, who voiced her concerns.
The SDA Hospital’s medical director, Dr. Philip Karikari, expressed his displeasure with the state of affairs and emphasized how dangerous it was to provide healthcare there during the strike.
Patients and their families have told 3news about their upsetting experiences, underscoring the pressing need for this situation to be resolved.
Since June 2, GRNMA members have been on strike. They are requesting that the former Akufo-Addo administration implement a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) that has been authorized.
Due to budgetary limitations, the current Mahama administration has rejected this demand. The nurses have opposed the government’s plan to delay implementation until 2026.
Following a meeting with the Parliamentary Select Committee on Health, it was decided to meet again in two weeks to continue the conversation.
Source: newsthemegh.com