Minster of Health, Alex Segbefia
The Ministry of Health (MoH) has released a cheque of GH¢300,000 to the Accra Psychiatric Hospital after weeks of protests by hospital staff for logistics.
The sector ministry, responding finally to the demands for hospital supplies which had run out for weeks resulting in psychiatric nurses abandoning their posts, also presented GH¢100,000 worth of medications as well as cartons of fish and non-consumable items to enable health officers to care for inmates.
A release signed by the Head of Public Relations, MoH, Tony Goodman, said the presentations made on Wednesday were to help alleviate the plight of patients and workers at the health facility.
“The hospital has some stocks of non-consumable items, including treatment gloves which can last till May 2017. We hope that the dedicated source of funding identified by government to support the Mental Health Fund in the Act will help resolve this long standing financial challenge in the psychiatric front,” the statement said.
The Minister of Health Alex Segbefia, speaking on local radio station, said more logistics would be supplied to the facility by the end of the week.
“We have made some funding available with more to follow by the end of the week, we’ve also made pharmaceuticals available with more to follow and we are on top of the issue currently… so both on the food side, the pharmaceuticals side and the consumables which we are dealing with today [Thursday], all things should be back to normal to cover them till at least the budget is read again till February,” he added.
Hospital Budget
Dr Pinnaman Apau, Director of the Accra Psychiatric Hospital, stated that the GH¢4.1m debt owed suppliers since 2013 has reduced to GH¢3.5m.
She said the hospital presented an annual budget of GH¢7m but received only GH¢400,000, thus being forced to live on a budget deficit of GH¢6.6m.
“We presented a budget of about GH¢7m….[but] the actual amount we got was around GH¢400,000,” Dr Pinnaman said.
And so the hospital has been running on about GH¢400, 000 for 500 in-patients, 37,000 out-patients for 12 months, she told Joy FM’s Kojo Yankson.
She said mental healthcare is free, therefore, there is no guaranteed source of funding except from government.
“The little moneys the hospital generates are used to pay casual workers, fill the gas cylinders in the kitchen,” she said.
The director explained that the GH¢7million budget covered things the hospital actually needs, indicating that the hospital lives on the barest minimum of GH¢7,000 spent on perishables needed to prepare food for the 500 patients on admission.
“When you see the food they eat there is nothing to write home about,” she mentioned.
Meanwhile, the nurses group said they will not return until at least two months supplies of logistics, medication and consumable have been made to the facility as promised by the minister during a meeting with the National Labour Commission (NLC).
Jamila Hussein, chairperson of the group, said, “We asked for medication for at least two months so we are not going back till that promise has been fulfilled by the health minister.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri