Health issues in the rural areas and the small towns in the country

The Ghanaian Healthcare system has improved over the past decades and there are a few things that can be done to enhance it more. One of the issues that needs
improvement in the Ghanaian Healthcare system is patients’ safety. Patient safety is a basic patient right. Healthcare professionals and institutions must ensure patient safety, improve treatment outcomes, and reduce adverse effects. Failure to provide safety may result in deaths, disabilities, poor health outcomes, increased costs, and legal issues.

It is against the World Health Organization (WHO) and Ghana Health Service (GHS)
regulations for nurses to prescribe and administer medications to patients. However, community nurses posted to the various CHPS compounds across the country diagnose, prescribe, and issue medications to patients. In every clinical setting, whether large or small, it is not allowed by WHO and GHS for a nurse to diagnose and give prescriptions without a doctor’s approval.

At the CHPS compounds, the nurses diagnose diseases and prescribe medications to
patients. In some instances, these clinical procedures are done without conducting laboratory testing to know what specifically is wrong with the patient. Because of these practices, misdiagnoses and wrong prescriptions are being made. Since the patients have less knowledge of diseases and have trust in the nurses, they take the medications without precautions. Patients are more concerned about their prevailing condition and would want to get better, so they do not consider the long-term repercussions.

These practices are affecting the safety of patients and have led to the death of many, disabled some, prolonged disease conditions, and resulted in recurring diseases after treatment. One primary cause of the adverse effect of these practices is that the nurses only treat the signs and symptoms of the diseases and leave the causative organisms such as parasites, bacteria, viruses, fungi, and others to keep on replicating.

Furthermore, drugs and medications taken into the body have both positive and
negative effects on the body. Misdiagnoses and wrong prescriptions, in the long run, cause a lot of health issues such as kidney failure, anaemia, heart diseases, loss of body functions, deaths, miscarriages, and many other health conditions. These practices have been happening in the country, especially in the rural communities and small towns where CHPS compounds are located. It is making the CHPS compounds cause more harm than good to the people.

To have safe and secure health care for the people in rural areas, the Ghana Health Service should do something about these practices. Nurses should not function as medical doctors or prescribers, diagnosing diseases and prescribing medications without any laboratory evidence. There should be at least a physician assistant in each CHPS compound.

Moreover, I suggest there should be at least a basic laboratory set up at every CHPS compound for further disease investigation before drugs or medications are issued. Doing these will help change our health care system in rural communities. Health is life and with good health, it’s worth it. Health is not something we should play with.

Human life is very important. Rich or poor, in the village or the city, we all need access to good health care.