Following widespread social media reports alleging negligence resulting in the death of a patient at the Accident and Emergency Ward of the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH), the Minister for Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, has paid an unannounced visit to the facility to assess challenges in healthcare delivery.
The visit, according to the Minister, was to obtain firsthand insight into the difficulties confronting health professionals in the Northern Region. His first stop was the TTH, the only major referral hospital in Tamale.
Speaking in an interview during the visit on Tuesday, April 22, the Minister expressed concern over the number of non-functional medical equipment at the facility.
He noted with worry that despite payments being made to suppliers, many of the machines remain idle and unused.
He also highlighted President John Dramani Mahama’s commitment to finding a lasting solution to the persistent water crisis that has affected healthcare delivery at TTH and in the region as a whole.
“…There are some of them that I would have to escalate to the president. The Tamale water incident is beyond the Tamale Teaching Hospital. Tamale has a major water crisis; it is not an issue of the health sector, and it is a priority area for the president, as he will solve the issue of the water crisis in Tamale.
“There are issues of equipment that have been supplied to the hospital that are not working at all, and we will look into all that, because you can not supply equipment without installing it, and yet you have been paid”, he said.
Touching on plans to replace faulty equipment at the referral facility, the Minister stated that any interventions from his ministry would be guided by the hospital management’s stated priorities.
He also called on residents to continue to have confidence in the hospital and to patronise its services, assuring them of improved healthcare delivery shortly.
“When we finish with them, we will all think through it, because I can not do it all alone, I have to involve them, and we are thinking through it together. Everybody should remain calm and let us continue to patronise the facility,” he stated.
