Resolve challenges of National Health Scheme — Dr Samuel Kwashie
Delay in the reimbursement from the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to the various health facilities for services rendered is threatening efficient health service delivery in the Central Region.
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The reimbursement has been delayed for about 11 months now for some facilities, a situation which is crippling the smooth operation of the health sector in the region.
The Central Regional Director of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Samuel Kwashie, said the situation was “dangerously crippling the health service and threatens to compromise effective and quality health care”.
He was speaking at the opening of a three-day Central Regional Performance Review meeting of the GHS in Cape Coast.
Dr Kwashie said urgent and bold steps must be taken to resolve the challenges with the NHIS to save the health service from any deterioration.
“The earlier we take bold steps to deal with the perennial but well-known challenges associated with managing the NHIS, the better it will be for us all as a nation, and more importantly for the vulnerable and underprivileged population,” he said.
Dr Kwashie also expressed concern about the wastage of staff in the service, saying this had adverse implication for healthcare delivery.
He indicated, for instance, that last year, 94 health personnel including 17 midwives, 26 nurses and six physician assistants retired from active service, 35 vacated post while 16 others were lost through death.
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Syphilis
Dr Kwashie said syphilis continued to be prevalent in the region with the region recording the highest prevalence rate.
He said maternal mortality would be given the needed attention to help reduce it further, saying the region recorded 67 maternal deaths with a maternal mortality ratio of 108 per 100,000 live birth.
On cholera, Dr Kwashie said he was encouraged that there was only 18 cases of cholera in 2015 and no deaths compared to the 3,846 cases of cholera with 60 deaths in 2014 in the region.
Fixing challenges
For his part, the outgoing Central Regional Minister, Mr Aquinas Tawiah Quansah, gave an assurance that the government was doing everything to fix the challenges confronting the health sector.
He, therefore, appealed to stakeholders, particularly the providers, to help curb the high scheme abuses and financial malfeasance at all levels of care by clients, prescribers and scheme officials.
The minister further used the opportunity to appeal to the National Health Insurance Authority and the district directors of health services to hasten the registration of health facilities, particularly the area zones, to help improve households’ access to quality and comprehensive primary care services.
Mr Quansah expressed the delight that the region had always maintained robust disease surveillance and control system as exhibited in the recent Ebola scare in the neighbouring countries.
Vulnerable communities
The Provost of the College of Health and Allied Sciences, University of Cape Coast, Reverend Prof. Harold Amonoo-Koufi, who was awarded “the Distinguished Personalities for Health Award” by the Central Regional Health Management Team, urged the Regional Health Services to direct its radar on the Cape Coast and Elmina communities.
He said because of the abject poverty in those communities, they were exposed to societal ills and added that “it is time we directed our attention to those communities”.