Members of the Society of Private Medical and Dental Practitioners after the meeting

Society of Private Medical and Dental Practitioners elects new executive

Joshua Bediako Koomson Aug - 09 - 2023 , 07:49 2 minutes read

The Society of Private Medical and Dental Practitioners (SPMDP) has elected Dr Andre Kwasi-Kumah as its National President to serve for a two-year term.

This was at the 42nd annual congress of the society which was held in Accra from August 3 to 6 in Accra on the theme: “Training of Healthcare Professionals in Ghana: The Role of Private Health Facilities."

Other officers elected were Dr Chris Akwesi Adomako, National Vice President and Dr Matthew Kwame Edusei, National Secretary.

Demands

In a communique issued at the end of its three-day meeting, the society urged the government to institute measures to reduce the burden private health facilities went through in procuring both conventional and state of the art equipment to enhance healthcare delivery in the country.

Additionally, it called on the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Finance to negotiate with the private health facilities to post nurses, doctors to those private facilities year by year to alleviate the hardships the qualified personnel went through while sitting at home after qualifications.

The society stressed that the whole policy of healthcare professionals postings in general must be given a critical look and be made more equitable such that in the end the client shall benefit from quality of care from both public and private facilities.

It also said compatriots who venture into providing professional training must not sacrifice quality for quantity and that they must do a careful balancing act between provision of service and profitability.

The society said all members who were qualified and given the nod to train those professionals must be given the necessary academic recognition.

“While we salute our pioneer Family Health Hospital and Medical College and all the others that followed in their steps such as Accra Medical College and the pioneers in nursing and allied health education such as Narh-Bita College and all others, we call on government to recognise these pioneering efforts,” the society said.