Korle Bu sets up committee to probe abuses and complaints

The Member of Parliament for Ablekuma South, Fritz Baffour, has called on the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital to adopt measures that would help the hospital continue to be a bastion of health care delivery in Africa.

He, therefore, stressed the need for professional human resource for the hospital to help consolidate its position as a leading provider of quality health care in Africa.

Mr Baffour who is a member of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital Board was speaking at the inauguration of a 15-member Ethics and Professionalism Committee tasked with the responsibility of providing an avenue for prompt redress of grievances of patients and other clients of the hospital recently. The committee is expected to correct infractions on the rights of patients and address issues of breach of ethics or the lack of professionalism of its staff. He said “I expect that the human resource base of the hospital undergoes empowerment by many interventions and I hope that the committee will be one of such interventions,” and entreated the committee to work diligently to promote quality health care delivery in the hospital.

In an address, the Chief Administrator of the hospital, Prof Nii Otu Nartey, said the setting up of the committee formed part of a scheme to improve health care delivery in the hospital.

“Management is well aware of the equipment and systemic challenges facing some parts of the hospital and steps are being taken to address them,” he said, adding that “this will enhance the smooth flow of service so that infractions on the rights of patients might not be blamed on equipment and other failures.”

He gave the assurance that the management of the hospital would implement its recommendations fearlessly, irrespective of the persons involved.

Prof Nartey said the hospital had already established Information and Complaints Desks at its Central OPD and the Polyclinic to make it easy for aggrieved patients to lodge complaints, and added that complaints received from those desks would be forwarded to the committee for resolution.

He said the management of the hospital conducted a clients’ satisfaction survey recently and the recommendations are being implemented, disclosing that “These surveys are going to be conducted regularly to enable management to identify areas that need to be focused on and correct problems for the seamless provision of health care to our cherished patients and clients.”

He expressed optimism that the committee would discharge its duties diligently because of the rich and diverse backgrounds of its members.

The members who were nominated by various professional groups at the hospital, included Mrs Esther Hammond, Mrs Regina Kotei, Mr Kwame Gyamfi, Dr Ama Edwin, Dr Divine Banyubala, Dr Ebenezer Badoe, Prof J H Addy, Rev. Dr Nana Kwesi Bart-Plange and Mr Ernest Owusu-Aboagye,.

The rest are Dr Lily Wu, Prof A Lassey, Rev (Mrs) Rose Abbey, Prof Y Adu-Gyamfi, Ms Gladys Adeyemo, and Mrs Christable Dadzie.

Source: Mustapha Salifu, Head of PR, KBTH.