Private doctors threaten to withdraw services to NHIA card holders
The Society of Private Medical and Dental Practitioners (SPMDP) has threatened to withdraw services to National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) card holders from May 1, 2015, if money owed them by the authority is not paid by April 30.
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It said the private health sector had not been paid by the NHIA since August 2014 and, as a result, the sector was broke and was collapsing.
"The private health sector cannot continue to provide services and not be paid for them," the National President of the SPMDP, Dr Kwasi Odoi-Nyarko, said at a press conference in Accra yesterday.
He said the setting up of private medical practice was an expensive venture which could be stressful or even suicidal, depending on the source of funds for the start-up.
"There is evidence to support the fact that when Ghanaians are ill and seek care, they go to private sources half or most of the time. As far back as 10 years ago, 50 per cent of Ghanaians patronised the private sector when indisposed. Our modest estimation is that about 55 per cent of Ghanaians patronise the private medical sector currently," he said.
Private medical system
According to the SPMDP President, the private medical system in Ghana was now made up of highly skilled professionals, both general practitioners and specialists.
In his view, some of the best diagnostic, investigative and cancer management centres in Ghana could be found in the private medical sector, while private medical centres accredited as teaching and training centres for doctors and other paramedical professionals were among the best in the country.
Dr Odoi-Nyarko said the private medical sector, in keeping with the Hippocratic Oath that guided medical practice, was always the "back-stopping" medical service in Ghana, even when counterparts in the public service were on strike.
He said practitioners were being taken to court for the non-payment of the SSNIT contributions of their workers, utility tariffs, drugs, laboratory reagents and other consumables, among many other things, which made an already bad situation dire.
Collapse of sector
The non-payment of money owed the SPMDP, if not addressed, he said, would lead to the collapse of the sector.
Dr Odoi-Nyarko called on all stakeholders and those who cared about good health services and universal health coverage to advocate, on behalf of the SPMDP, to avert the collapse of private medical practice in Ghana.