Accra, September 14, 2017//-Credible reports indicate that the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi has been hit by acute shortage of medical doctors, complying the management of the hospital to prioritise only emergency cases.
According to the managers of the hospital, they are currently concentrating on inpatient care for the over 250 patients on admission.
This is happening at the time when a total of 150 junior doctors who finished their one year of housemanship are yet to be placed.
The situation is having a toll on the few senior medical staff at the tertiary health facility in the Ashanti region and has forced them to scale down on out-patient-department and non-emergency cases, managers said.
“This action has become necessary because of the acute shortage of doctors in the directorate,” a memo from the KATH dated September 12 stated. The memo stated that further admission into the Hospital will endanger the lives of patients and impede the provision of quality care.
Patients who attended at the hospital Thursday to see their doctors had to wait for about five hours because some doctors at the consulting rooms had been moved to attend to emergency cases at the various wards Public Relations Officer of the Hospital, Kwame Frimpong, told Kumasi-based Akoma FM Thursday that about 170 new doctors who are to replace those who left are yet to be given financial clearance by the Finance Ministry before they could be given appointment.
He said management of the hospital met Wednesday and it was resolved that the various clinics and departments focus on emergency cases in view of the situation at hand. “We are expecting that where the problem is very pronounced, the medical directorate has to scale down on non-emergency and OPD cases,” he said.
He said the situation has been communicated to the Ministry of Health and efforts were being worked on to ensure that new doctors are employed. “We are hoping that in matter of a week or two, this issue will be resolved and all directorates will be in the position to resume the provision of full service,”
Meanwhile, new emergency cases have however been suspended.
African Eye Report
