Despite the rooftop pronouncement by the Ministry of Health that majority of Ghanaians have access to healthcare delivery; the opposite seems to be the case in the Kwahu North Afram Plains in the Eastern Region.
The situation has deteriorated to the extent that the poor inhabitants who are mainly peasant farmers have to struggle to raise between GHc50 and GHc150 to hire a boat to transport women who are in labour to the nearby Presbyterian Hospital at Donkorkrm.
About 70 percent out of the total population of 112,563 in the district live on five islands; namely Kpala, Dwarf, Digya, Tsetsekpo, Dzalepata and Kporve. None of these communities can boast of a single makeshift CHIPS compound to take care of the health needs of the people.
The situation, The Chronicle understands, has arisen because nurses, doctors and other paramedic staff have refused to go to the area to attend to emergencies because the government had failed to provide them with life jackets in case of any emergency on both the Volta and Afram lakes.
What has even exacerbated the situation is the fact that the Presbyterian Hospital at Donkorkrom does not have an ambulance to refer emergency cases to either Nkawkaw Government Hospital or the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi.
The staff of the hospital are also complaining about the poor conditions of service with most of them regretting accepting postings to the area.
According to them, facilities at the only hospital, which covers an area of 5,040 sq km and is the largest district in the Eastern Region in terms of landmass, leave much to be desired. They alleged that the 200 bed hospital is understaffed and also lacks modern equipment.
The Medical Administrator of the hospital, Dr. George Darko Brown, speaking in an interview with The Chronicle expressed worry over the situation and immediately called on the government and management of the Presbyterian Church to avert a possible disaster.
The young doctor noted that he accepted posting to the area because he owed humanity the obligation to do so, but human and logistical constraints at the Hospital were gradually making him to think otherwise.
Not hiding his frustration, Dr. Brown said the facility has only one anesthesia and one midwife who take care of over 300 clients, who visit the facility daily. He continued that, the facility cannot even boast of one ambulance and in the case of any emergency and referral, patients are transported through taxis and private cars.
Another concern raised by staff of the hospital is the traditional delay by National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) for timely reimbursement of the hospital’s services rendered to clients who largely depend on the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS)
The situation has compounded the already worsening health issues of residents in the district that share boundaries to the south with Kwahu South District, to the east with the Volta River, to the west with two districts in the Ashanti Region, the Sekyere-East and Asante-Akim Districts to the north, with two districts in the Brong Ahafo Region; namely Sene and Atebubu.
The District Chief Executive (DCE) of the area, Windham Emil Afram when contacted called on the nurses and doctors to exercise patience as he finds out lasting solutions to the legitimate challenges facing them.
He explained that, the Assembly provided an ambulance to the hospital but due to the poor nature of the road network in the district, it has broken down.
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