GHS to ensure pre-audit procedures at health facilities

The acting Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Gloria Quansah-Asare, has announced the initiation of vigorous pre-audit procedures by the GHS to ensure accuracy of all transactions at health facilities.

She said that was being done to address the issue of health officials appearing before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament to explain issues on National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) receipts.

The announcement was made on behalf of Dr Quansah-Asare by Dr Naana Konama Kotey, the Deputy Programme Manager of the National Buruli Ulcer Control Programme, during a two-day 2016 regional annual performance review conference at Wa in the Upper West Region (UWR).

She called for improved management practices to ensure accuracy and timely submission of NHIS reports for reimbursement, adding, “To maximise resource generation, the GHS shall ensure that NHIS vetting teams are instituted in all facilities to ensure timely submission and zero rejection of claims. Importantly, the service now declares a “zero tolerance” for appearance before the PAC.”

She noted that this needed competent and a well-motivated human resource in the service and as such, GHS would organise health seminars and counselling services for health workers with the introduction of recreational activities. She also urged them to comply rigidly with their leave rosters to improve their health status.

The theme

Speaking on the theme “Child Survival in the UWR, Successes, Challenges and the Way Forward”, the UWR Director of Health Service, Dr Winfred Ofosu, called on the UWR Coordinating Council and the municipal/district assemblies to make provisions for health personnel to be attracted and retained in the region, as a step to increase health personnel in the region.

Cause of concern

He mentioned another cause for concern as anaemia and people reporting late at health facilities, noting that there was shortage of blood at the blood banks to offer any assistance to those who needed it.

To this effect, Dr Ofosu commended the various districts which had taken it upon themselves to organise Community Emergency Transport Systems (CETS) for those who needed medical attention.

For his part, the acting UWR Director of the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC), Mr Kinsley Adjey Boahene, expressed his profound gratitude to the various development partners for complementing government’s efforts to improve healthcare delivery in the region.