Dr Sory: My heart bleeds for Ghana’s health sector

Former Director General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Elias Sory, has criticized managers of Ghana’s Health Sector saying they have failed to appreciate the importance of the health of the people.

“When I hear of all these things my heart bleeds. We just have to sit down together and discuss issues dispassionately because the health of the people is paramount. We have to ensure that if the economy is to grow, we have healthy people and the health sector cannot fail to do that,” he stated.

Speaking on the Citi breakfast show, Dr Sory said government and the workers need to sit down and discuss best practices in disease prevention and healthcare delivery in the country.

“Government and workers will have to sit together and discuss things without any reservations and come out with the best practices and that is what I have promoted ever since I joined the health sector…we should look at the client and how they can live properly and prevent diseases and this is what is important,” he said.

Public sector doctors called off their two-day strike after government intervened in their conflict with the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission. The doctors were protesting discrepancies in their salaries after their migration onto the Single Spine Salary Structure.

Dr Sory further stated that it is the government who should work to resolve the issues of workers in the health sector.

“As a doctor, I have participated and as a manager, have dealt with doctors who threatened to go on strike…at the end of it all however, it depends on the government of the day to really discuss things very well with the health workers to make sure things are ok… we should look at different rules of engagement for people working in the health sector as those days are not today ,” he said.

Addressing the allegations of corruption raised by the CEO of the Korle Teaching Hospital, Dr. Sory said “Korle Bu, as a national hospital should be managed by professionals who are into the system of management and providing great leadership so it does not matter if it’s a doctor, administrator, pharmacist or someone coming from a different field altogether; all the person has to have are the skills to lead and make sure that this is a venture that is of national importance,” he said.

“Administrators are trained to do the administrative parts of specific things and it is important we recognize it is another health professional site in the hospital but they are not necessarily the people to take over and run the hospital; we want an expert. If the doctor who has been a surgeon or a professor has done other things that can make him run the hospital, let it be done because at the moment the hospitals are run without expertise,” he said.

"What Korle Bu needs is a skilled person and a total shake up," he added.