Ho, Nov. 27, GNA - The Ho Municipal Hospital has been commended for its quality health care initiatives. The Acting Deputy Director Clinical Care at the Volta Regional Health Directorate, Mr Robert Adatsi, gave the commendation at the induction of a "Clients Receiving Team" (CRT) at the Hospital on Tuesday. He said the hospital was the first to subject itself to Peer Review which has been adopted by some district hospitals in the Region. The latest initiative was however borne out of the Hospital's "Patients Satisfaction Survey."

The CRT would see to patients care problems on arrival at the hospital through to their final destination of care, assure patients in distress of their safety and get them to adjust to the hospital's environment. The Team would also ensure that patients clinical outcomes were positive, create a comforting synergy the patient can rely on, quickly correct any mishap in the process of transporting emergency cases to the hospital, and avert any further injury to emergency cases rushed to the hospital by those accompanying them.

Mr Adatsi observed that what brings satisfaction to patients was not so much the cure for their ailments, but their satisfaction from the way they were received and treated at the hospitals and clinics. "A satisfied client leaves with a sound psychological and emotional feeling that he or she has been treated as a human being," he said. He said for many patients just a smile could be the panacea to their problems and that experience endears them to the hospital for a long time. Dr John Eleezar, Ho Municipal Health Director, who administered the oath of commitment to the members of the team, said laudable though the initiative was its effects on the patients would depend largely on the care extended to them beyond the CRT to other sections including the wards and Out-Patient's Department.

He therefore urged the management of the hospital to take reports from the CRT seriously, and take disciplinary measures against those who flout quality assurance rules.

The Medical Superintendent of the Hospital, Dr Gafatsi Normanyo said a monitoring and evaluation system was being instituted to retrain the CRT members and ensure continuous improvement in their standard of performance. He said the members were trained by the Management Development and Productivity Institute (MDPI) in customer care, for improved patronage and by the Ho Nurses' Training College on how to receive patients. 27 Nov 09