Elevator at Korle Bu Surgical Department fixed

Elective surgeries scheduled to take place at the surgical department of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital will resume today, following the completion of work to fix one of the broken down elevators that serve the multi-storey department.

Such procedures were put on hold while attention was given to only emergency cases after the elevator broke down, drawing concerns from patients and other caregivers.

It also caught the attention of the Ranking Member of Parliament’s Health Committee, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, who visited the surgical department to assess the situation.

However, last week, the management of the hospital on its Facebook page, denied news making the round that its surgical department had shut down due to the faulty elevators, giving the assurance that it was working to get one of the elevators fixed. 

Situation

Mr Akandoh, the Member of Parliament for Juaboso Constituency, who observed that the lifts were not functioning, consequently issued an ultimatum to hospital authorities to resolve the problem, even if temporarily, to avoid a dire impact.

“It became public knowledge that  Korle Bu has suspended indefinitely elective surgeries and the reason was as a result of faulty lifts. This morning I decided to pay a surprise visit to see for myself,” he told the media in an interview last Sunday.

“Unfortunately, the lifts are not working. We are here at the department of surgery and the lift at the department of surgery is not working. Information we have gathered is that some of the lifts have been down for the past four to five good years.

“For me, it is rather unconscionable for a whole hospital, a teaching hospital such as Korle Bu, to derelict its duty for just maintaining a lift to facilitate the movement of patients to get the quality of health care they need.

“It is rather unfortunate and, therefore, I am calling on the government, the Minister responsible for health, they cannot suspend surgeries indefinitely. Within the next 24 hours, we must see the end of this unconscionable behaviour. We cannot accept that reason,” he stated.

Problem resolved

Yesterday, the hospital authorities announced that the lift has been fixed and, thus, elective surgeries would resume immediately.

The Public Relations Officer of the KBTH, Mustapha Salifu, said surgeons had been informed about the new development and they were expected to resume work in the theatres immediately.

“Already, we have informed all the specialists that the lift has been fixed. We will also call the patients scheduled as well, so hopefully, tomorrow we should commence the elective surgeries here at the unit.

“The lifts are now functional; we take this opportunity to thank the patients for bearing with us during the period and for their patience.

“We are committed to providing the public with the maximum healthcare services,” the PRO stated.

Long term

For a permanent solution to the persistent problem which affects most departments, Mr Salifu also hinted that there were plans to also replace all broken down elevators early next year.  

“By the first quarter of next year, all outdated lifts at the hospital will be replaced to ensure that we are able to provide quality and efficient service to our patients.”