Help reduce maternal mortality - Health director tells staff
The Volta Regional Director of Health Services, Dr Joseph Teye Nuertey, has advised frontline staff of health facilities to adopt a positive attitude to work in order to reduce maternal mortality, which he said remained high in the region.
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He said attitudinal problems on the part of some frontline staff resulted in low output that contributed significantly to the high number of maternal deaths in the region, despite efforts put in place to reduce such cases.
In a speech read on his behalf at the 2014 half-year review meeting in Ho on the theme, “Focusing on the Frontline Staff: A Key Determinant for Improving Access and Quality Healthcare in the Volta Region”, Dr Nuertey announced that 35 maternal deaths were recorded in the region from January to June 2013, but the figure increased to 47 within the same period this year.
That, he said, was unacceptable since it could have been prevented if structures at the districts were working efficiently and managers remained more vigilant.
Low performance
To tackle the problem of low performance, Dr Nuertey stated that he had signed a performance agreement with the municipal and district directors of health services and medical superintendents to implement specific health activities in the districts.
The performance agreement, he noted, would serve as the basis for the assessment of the managers’ performance at the end of year.
Uphold values
“As health workers, we must uphold the values of the Ghana Health Service by demonstrating beyond all reasonable doubts that we are ready to provide quality and accessible healthcare services for our people.”
Dr Nuertey, therefore, urged the managers to intensify supervision at the sub-districts so that they could solve challenges in their districts in order to achieve their targets.
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He, however, said there had been an improvement in immunisation figures, skilled delivery, postnatal care, antenatal care and school health activities.
He also pointed out that the first half of the year had been difficult in respect of the release of financial resources from the central government and called on the region’s hospital management teams (HMTs) to manage their internally generated funds prudently to deliver quality healthcare and improve their infrastructure.