Waiting Hours to See the Doctor

It is 11.30 am at La Polyclinic, situated at La, a suburb of the Ghanaian capital, Accra. Emmanuel Addo, a 63-year old unemployed man is at the tail end of a queue as patient No. 30 waiting to see the doctor for a routine check-up.

He has been at the polyclinic since 8.30 am.

"I used to be a seaman but was laid off 19 years ago when the company I was working for folded up and sold all its vessels. I now depend on my wife for financial support," he told IRIN.

"Depending on how fast the queue goes, I might see the doctor by 1 or 2 pm," he said.

La Polyclinic is one of the numerous government-owned facilities in Ghana, equivalent to a district hospital. These facilities cater for the majority of health care requirements of ordinary Ghanaians. They refer very serious cases like major surgeries or complicated accident cases to the bigger regional hospitals like Korle-Bu in Accra or Okonfo Anokye in Kumasi.

"I cannot afford go to a private clinic where service is faster because I simply would not be able to pay for it. I would have left my fate to God if I were not suffering from a serious ailment and therefore have to wait this long to see the Doctor," he added.

Waiting to see a the doctor in a government hospital in Ghana - and lately in some private clinics too, can at best be described as an ordeal. It takes long hours to get to the consulting room. Apart from basic medication, the patients are only given basic prescriptions and have to buy the drugs from private pharmacists.

A 33-year old nurse who has worked at the La Polyclinic for three years but preferred to remain anonymous, said: "I would have left but I choose to remain in Ghana because of my family. I am married with two kids, aged 3 yrs and 10 months."

"Some of my colleague nurses, who are already in the UK are asking that I join them. They are making good money and they tell me they are happy in the UK. If conditions do not improve, I will leave. I do not want to stay there forever. I just want to go there, work for some years, make some considerable savings and come back to Ghana," she added.

Patients too believe that the main problem is conditions of service for medical staff. "Government has to improve the conditions of service of our health workers so that they can also stay here and cater for us, the patients," Addo said.

Felicia Bart-Plange, a medical doctor at the clinic however said despite the hardships of medical work in Ghana, she will stay and work in the country.

"The exodus of health professionals out of Ghana has put a lot of pressure on our staff to provide adequate health delivery services. But there is nothing we can do. Some of us will have to stay and provide that service. I am too old to leave. I have worked for the past 33 years and I am just about to retire," she told IRIN.

"When we were young and just out of medical school, our conditions of service were very reasonable and memorable. We were given vehicle-loans to buy cars and given bungalows. Things have changed now," she added.