Correspondence from Eastern Region

The Upper East Regional Director of Health, Dr Braimah Baba Abubakari, has expressed worry over the failure of 23 medical doctors to assume duties after their postings to the region.

Speaking to GhanaWeb's Sarah Bandal Dubure in an exclusive interview, he indicated that a total number of 26 doctors were posted to the region, out of which only three showed up, and even with that, they insisted on working at the regional hospital and were not willing to work at the district levels where their services are more needed.

" So as of yesterday, only three out of the 26 have been reported. They came here, they showed up, and they all insisted that it's because of the regional hospital that they selected the Upper East Region, so if it is to go to the district offices, they are not interested, so we are still engaging them," He said.



Explaining the posting process, the Director pointed out that vacancies are declared for each region where doctors go online to apply and select their choice of regions.

" So when the region quota is full, and you go online, you can't tick the region, so that resulted in several doctors ticking this region, not that they just looked at their names and posted them. They themselves selected Upper East, and therefore, we are only given the names of the doctors, " he further clarified.

The Regional Director noted that the hospital was far more endowed with medical doctors than the district hospitals, hence the need for a balance.

"It is not like in the past, where the whole regional hospital had only five or six doctors. This time we have not less than 50 doctors, including specialists, so you see that if others come and they insist they want to go there.... so we are negotiating with them," he said.

He noted that they plan to move some of the experienced staff from the regional hospital to the districts and allow the newly posted doctors to take their place, as they do not want to lose them.

" ..but we won't also just pack everybody there in the regional hospital," he, however, cautioned.



Dr Abubakari said most of the district hospitals have two doctors who run shifts. He added that getting additional hands on board would help relieve them of the burden of working throughout without rest.

"But even with the two doctors we have, the work is still overwhelming; that is why we want these new doctors to go to some of the district hospitals so that when one doctor is not around, others will be around," he explained.

Secondly, when two people are running shifts, they cannot have a restful day. They work 24 hours. You see that when you close, and an emergency comes in the night, you have to come back. So that's why we want to see how we will solve the situation," he emphasised.

He revealed that they are in talks with the doctors to encourage them so that some will move to the district hospitals for the newly posted ones to come in.

"The government has employed both new and old, so we have to deploy them where their services are needed. They are human beings, you cannot take a cane and go and start whipping them, you must go to this place No," he noted

Meanwhile, as of the time GhanaWeb visited the directorate, there was a female doctor who had arrived and expressed interest in staying.

" Fortunately, she arrived today and has agreed to go to the district hospital on condition that she wants to go and see the place tomorrow and then give us the final answer, but she is likely to accept, she is from the Ashanti Region," he expressed optimism.

"If they go by compulsion, you don't know what they can go and do because their minds need to be stable before you can get the best out of them," he added.

The Regional Director noted that the total number of doctors was actually 26 and not the 35 as reported by other media houses.

" There is also an error in the total number. The list we had was actually 26 and not 35. I know that the information that got to the minister was 35; we can't blame him for that. I don't know how that 35 came about."

The Upper East Regional Director of Health, Dr Braimah B. Abubakari, has expressed worry over the failure of 23 medical doctors to assume duties upon their postings to the region.

Speaking to GhanaWeb's Sarah Bandal Dubure in an exclusive interview, he indicated that a total number of 26 doctors were posted to the region, out of which only three showed up, and even with that, they insisted on working at the regional hospital and were ot willing to work at the district levels where their services are more needed.

" So as of yesterday, only three out of the 26 were reported. They came here, they showed up, and they all insisted that it's because of the regional hospital that they selected the Upper East Region, so if it is to go to the district offices, they are not interested, so we are still engaging them," he said.

Explaining the posting process, the Director pointed out that vacancies are declared for each region where doctors go online to apply and select their choice of regions.

" So when the region quota is full, and you go online, you can't tick the region, so that resulted in several doctors ticking this region, not that they just looked at their names and posted them. They themselves selected Upper East, and therefore, we are only given the names of the doctors," he further clarified.



The Region Director noted that the regional hospital was far endowed with medical doctors than the district hospitals, hence the need for a balance.

" It is not like in the past, when the whole regional hospital had only five or six doctors. This time we have not less than 50 doctors, including specialists, so you see that if others come and they insist they want to go there.... so we are negotiating with them," he said.

The Director noted that they are planning on getting some of the experienced ones in the regional hospital to move to the districts and allow the new ones to come in, as they do not want to lose them.

" ..but we won't also just pack everybody there in the regional hospital," he, however, cautioned.

Dr Abubakari said most of the district hospitals have two doctors who run shifts. He added that getting additional hands on board would help relieve them of the burden of working throughout without rest.

"But even with the two doctors we have, the work is still overwhelming; that is why we want these new doctors to go to some of the district hospitals so that when one doctor is not around, others will be around," he explained.

Secondly, when two people are running shifts, they cannot have a restful day. They work 24 hours. You see that when you close, and an emergency comes in the night, you have to come back. So that's why we want to see how we will solve the situation," he emphasised.

He revealed that they are in talks with the doctors to encourage them so that some will move to the district hospitals for the newly posted ones to come in.

The government has employed both new and old, so we have to deploy them where their services are needed. They are human beings; you cannot take a cane and go and start whipping them, you must go to this place. No," he noted

Meanwhile, as of the time GhanaWeb visited the directorate, there was a female doctor who had arrived and expressed interest in staying "Fortunately, she arrived today and has agreed to go to the district hospital on condition that she wants to go and see the place tomorrow and then give us the final answer, but she is likely to accept, she is from the Ashanti Region," he expressed optimism.

"If they go by compulsion, you don't know what they can go and do because their minds need to be stable before you can get the best out of them," he added.

The Regional Director noted that the total number of doctors was actually 26 and not the 35 as reported by other media houses.

" There is also an error in the total number. The list we had there actually was 6 and not 35. I know that the information that got to the minister was 35; we can't blame him for that. I don't know how that 35 came about."