Lack of ambulance at worsening transfer cases

Winneba (C/R) Feb. 7 GNA- The condition of most accident victims referred to Korle Bu, Police hospital and the 37 military hospitals from the Winneba Government Hospital for further medical attention worsen before reaching Accra due to lack of ambulance to convey them comfortably.

The Administrator of the hospital, Mr. Larry Kumassah and Mrs. Bernadette Puffah, Deputy Director of Nursing Services (DDNS) said because the hospital had been without an ambulance for the past three years, accident victims and emergency cases referred to the bigger hospitals in Accra were conveyed in hired taxi cabs, pick-ups and other private vehicles.

The two officers were speaking to the Ghana News Agency on Saturday while dispatching a hired ambulance to convey some accident victims to the 37 Military Hospital in Accra.

They held that apart from such vehicles not being suitable for conveying the victims, the hospital spent about 40 per cent of its internally generated income on transporting victims and that in most cases the relatives of the victims were not around to pay the bills.

Mr Kumassah and Mrs. Puffah said the situation was draining the hospital's financial resources and therefore appealed to the government and non-governmental bodies to come to the aid of the hospital with its needs to enable it to function effectively. They also called for more doctors and nurses to be posted to the hospital to enable it cope with the high rate of accident cases in the area.

"The situation where we have two medical officers, a medical assistance and some few nurses currently manning the hospital, which is situated in an accident prone area and also the only bigger hospital along the Mankessim-Winneba-Accra road, is woefully inadequate, Mr Kumassah added.