The Crusading Guide

"Lives in danger at Korle-Bu, as Chief Administrator endorses purchase & use of bad products", is the front-page banner headline of the Crusading Guide. The story has it that the Chef Executive of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Dr. Holdbrook- Smith, has been accused of putting the lives of staff and patients at risk by insisting on the continued use of a disinfectant which had been certified as unsuitable by the Ghana Standard Board.

This very serious allegation forms part of the yearlong dispute about procurement practices at the hospital, which has forced the Minister of Health, Mr Nuamah-Donkor, to institute a committee of enquiry.

The paper says, evidence available to it indicates that Dr. Holdbrook-Smith overruled concerns raised by the Chairman of the hospital's Purchasing Committee and the result of the Standard Board's tests which confirmed that the disinfectant, supplied by a hitherto unregistered supplier, was totally unsuitable to be used for decontaminating solid linen and instruments.