Wither Thau KATH?

TO: ALL MEDIA HOUSES 24/07/12



KOMFO ANOKYE TEACHING HOSPITAL IN DISTRESS, ALL INCLUSIVE ACTION NEEDED NOW

Distinguish Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press, Invited Guest, Good Morning!

We wish to express our profound gratitude to you for honouring our invitation, in fact, for the wonderful collaboration you have had with us over the period even though we are not able to refresh you the way we should, we thank you. I believe by now you have understood the point that as partners we are non profit making organisation so we always have logistical challenges. We thank you for coping with us.

Today, we are here in respect of what is happening to our one and only Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) popularly known as GEE.

Ladies and gentlemen, to us, referring to a Hospital as a Teaching hospital means a lot. Such a facility is supposed not only to be well equipped with all medical departments, materials, consumables and equipment, but also and most especially, at every level, administration, medical, nursing, pharmacy, physiotherapy etc. There should be leading experts to man such Hospitals thereby giving the best of health care to people. Medical miracles only happen at Teaching hospitals, that is why they are called referral Hospitals that attend to cases that are beyond an ordinary medical facility.

Ladies and gentlemen of the media, we have monitored and observed one of the Nation’s premier hospitals and, are alarmed by happenings there. We are heartbroken by the level of insensitiveness at the place. Ladies and gentlemen, we can only describe the place as a Hospital that is in DISTRESS THAT NEEDS SUPPORT FROM ALL AND SUNDRY.

Our attention has been drawn in recent times to the rot at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital KATH.

The issue at stake seems to be in twofold:

1. The lack of maintenance of basic facilities leading to a virtual standstill in the running of the hospital.

2. Absence of funds to acquire much needed equipment leading to the over-run and overuse of facilities.

The outcome of the above mentioned scenarios is the rapid deterioration of health care at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital.

One wonders what the Management of the Hospital has been doing all this period, whiles the hospital keeps running down and daily.

It will surprise Ghanaians that sometimes basics such as water, basic drugs, lift to carry pregnant women; basic drugs for operations etc are not available.

The outcome of the above is that there has been the recording of needless deaths at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, especially the deaths of babies and nursing mothers. One needs to ask what could be the root cause of this decay.

In our opinion the answer is not farfetched. The deterioration of KATH can be attributed to two factors:

1. The implementation of Capitation Policy in the region

2. Poor management practices that has further precipitated the already precarious situation.

A. Capitation has brought in its wake cash and carry system as well as co-payment at KATH. Presently out patients have to deposit monies before they are cared for even in emergency situations. There have been instances where patients on emergency have been left to die because they could not afford to make cash deposit. Laboratory facilities which is covered under the National Health Insurance, sadly is paid for at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital. Patients have been left to die because they could not afford to pay for lab. Cash and Carry system at its best. This is in sharp contrast to what happens in other regions. Is the Ashanti Region not part of Ghana? The outcome has been the recording of deaths of innocent patients, among them mothers and children. The health data for the Kumasi Metropolis for the first quarter of 2012 indicates that maternal mortality at KATH went up by 112.5% compared to the same period in 2011. Infant mortality also went up by 233% for the same period of implementation of capitation.



B. Introduction of Levies by the Management of KATH

Poor management has made a bad situation terrible. The attempt to introduce levies at the hospital in the name of staff development and maintenance begs for more questions. What was it for? And when it was halted by the Ministry has the Government provided the needed funds for that project? Or it was just an attempt to extort monies from innocent patients? The people of this country need some explanations.

C. Lack of basic medical consumables to be used by medical professionals to attend to patients. It would be recalled that junior doctors went on strike not because they wanted salary increment but they found it very difficult to access common and basic materials when they need them and so they stand there helplessly as people die in their hands on the hourly basis. Ladies and gentlemen, the situation is horrific and more than what we are made to believe. A teaching hospital lacking common Syringes, Drips, basic drugs, consumables, laboratory input to conduct medical tests?

D. Lack of Basic Hospital Equipment

Innocent children are made to share baby cots in threes at the children’’ ward. Hundreds of patients lay on the floor at various wards. There are no fridges to store certain drugs that require cold temperatures, substandard medical gadgets are used in theatres. It is mind bugling to note that a surgeon operates on a patient and the gadget shows that the patient is alive and that everything is Okay only to finish and realised that he was working on a dead body all that while.

How many X-Ray machines are there at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital? How many are working? This is inexcusable. We have information that to get an X-Ray image one has to join a queue for weeks. A situation where elevators are not working cannot be forgiven.



E. Irregular Supply of Common Utilities Such As Water and Electricity. Ladies and gentlemen, it was revealing to know that KATH could experience shortage of water supply as well as power cuts. There have been occasions when people put on life saving machines just die because there were power cuts from ECG. Ah! What is happening to us? Even health centers in Ghana have stand-by generators and as soon as there is power cut from the main grid they go on and continue supply of power. Constant power supply is not guaranteed at KATH. Again, how can health professionals attend to cases and cannot get water to wash their hands afterwards?

The wanton lost of human lives at a teaching hospital cannot be acceptable. People who are sent to KATH either by referral or as a first point of call are losing their lives as chickens every day. Must we sit down and watch unconcern as citizens, social groups, journalists, politicians, students? etc. It can be you or your own relative who will need to access health care at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital. Whatever it is, is certainly not acceptable.

KATH needs change, and change must come swiftly to save the people from eminent deaths.



Resolution

ADU is of the opinion that the state of affairs at KATH is inimical to the people as far as their health needs are concerned. The poor management coupled with capitation has brought untold hardship on the people, the people are dying needlessly. No wonder maternal death has short up to over 130% at the Metropolis, this goes to buttress what ADU has been saying all along. Indeed infant mortality is even worse.

ADU uses this medium to call for an overhaul of the management system at KATH and calls for support to salvage the situation for the good of the citizens of this country. A passionate appeal goes to NGO’s in the health sector to mobilize support for the KATH.

1. In the first place we invite the Parliamentary Committee on Health to throw a satellite on the activities of KATH to establish the point of deviation and to take appropriate action to salvage the distressful nature of KATH. There is the need for complete vigilance at KATH. The management of KATH owe it a moral duty to resign, if they do not posterity will judge them; indeed the souls of the unjustified deaths will judge them.

2. Capitation should be halted immediately. The practice of Cash and Carry at KATH is unfair, unjust and discriminatory, stressing up the people unnecessarily. As a Country government owes it a duty to provide for all without biasness and discrimination against the people in one region for whatever reason fair or foul. Is capitation meant to punish the people of the region? It is unjust, unfair and unethical and must be stopped.

3. The Asante Development Union is well convinced that the current Management Board has failed all those who access the facility. ADU requests that the Management Board should bow out honourably. They have failed to manage the facility the manner that it should to meet the health needs of the people and the way to go is for them to cede their positions to other well meaning Ghanaians who have the competence to also assist.

4. We wish to also use this opportunity to call for support for our dear Teaching Hospital. We believe, it is about time we recognised that KATH is in dye need of support. So individuals, corporate bodies, institutions, NGO’s especially the coalition of NGOs on Health should come to the aid of Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital. Various departments at the hospital need help, from baby cots to other sophisticated machines.

We end here by appealing to you the media to do independent checks at the hospital to find out more. There is more to know that we cannot put out here. It is really a sad thing to happen to us and we wish to invite you to also in your own small way do something to arrest the situation.

We thank you so much for lending us your ears. We believe you are equally touched and so will disseminate this message to the public especially the appeal to individuals and cooperate Ghana would be highlighted so they come to the aid to KATH. Many thanks to you all.



THANK YOU.