Govt pilots remote healthcare delivery services
The government will pilot a modern system of healthcare delivery that allows patients to seek health services, including consultations, remotely by the third quarter of the year.
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Known as telemedicine, the initiative encompasses real-time two-way communication between the patient and the healthcare provider, using electronic audio and visual means.
The President’s representative at the health ministry and Minister of Health designate, Dr Bernard Okoe Boye, disclosed this when he paid a working visit to the Tema General Hospital last Friday.
His visit formed part of scheduled working engagements with health institutions to confer with them on improving healthcare services, and to inspect ongoing government projects, among other reasons.
He was accompanied by a number of directors from the Ministry of Health (MoH), and was received by the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service and management of the Tema Regional Hospital.
He was conducted around the facility and informed about the scope of their operations, challenges and successes.
Telemedicine
Dr Okoe-Boye said the telemedicine initiative was just one of the information and communications technology (ICT) tools the government was deploying to revolutionise healthcare delivery.
He said the ICT revolution would include a paperless health system which would involve patients being given unique ID numbers that would be used to access their medical history at any health facility.
He said the new system would enhance referrals because by the time a patient was received at a referral facility, it would have had access to the patient’s medical records.
Appointment system
Dr Okoe Boye said the government would pilot a doctor-patient appointment regime within the healthcare system also by the third quarter of the year. “This will ensure that patients do not spend productive hours in the hospital just waiting to be seen by a doctor.
You will book an appointment, and walk in to see your doctor,” he said. He also mentioned other ICT initiatives that had been deployed to include the light wave health information management system (LHIMS), which was operational in all teaching, regional and over 250 primary level hospitals.
He said the LHIMS allowed health institutions to access real-time data for informed healthcare delivery and management decision-making. “The initiative forms part of efforts to increase access to healthcare service, improve service delivery and promote patient convenience towards the acceleration of delivering universal health coverage.
“As we navigate the path towards the increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI) worldwide, it is our responsibility to assess its implications for healthcare delivery. We must ensure we leverage AI to improve healthcare delivery,” he said.
He commended the Ghana Health Service for deploying the e-learning initiative to facilitate continuous professional development and to make it accessible to all healthcare professionals.
Health infrastructure update
Dr Okoe Boye said not only did the government focus on innovations to improve access and quality of healthcare delivery, but it had also invested heavily in the revamping of health infrastructure and the building of new ones.
Providing an update on that, he said, the government had invested in the Agenda 111 policy, and that it would ensure the completion and operationalisation of at least 40 of the hospitals.
He said the government since 2017 had completed a number of projects, and mentioned them to include the phase two of the University of Ghana Medical Centre. He said other completed projects included the €38 million Urology, Nephrology and Kidney transplant centre at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital; the Upper West Regional Hospital; the Ga East Regional Hospital and seven district hospitals at Somanya, Weta, Sawla-Tuna-Kalba, Buipe, Tolon, Bekwai and Tepa.
Dr Okoe Boye said 10 polyclinics in the Central Region; five polyclinics in the Greater Accra Region and a 36-unit residential accommodation unit at the Takoradi European Hospital had also been delivered.
“Work has also been completed on the construction and equipping of six health facilities at various locations in the Western Region,” he said.
Refurbishment
Dr Okoe Boye said three medical facilities — the Atibie Government Hospital, Abuakwa South and the Tetteh Quarshie district hospitals — had undergone refurbishment, while a new modern facility had been built to replace the small and dilapidated Kom Presbyterian Hospital at Aburi.
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He said to further address infrastructure deficit, the government had secured funding for various projects which were at various stages of completion. He said that included the construction and equipping of 12 hospitals at various locations, as well as the construction of Trauma Hospitals in Anyinam and Obuasi, which were 75 per cent completed.
He also mentioned the refurbishment and re-equipping of the Enyiresi Hospital in the Eastern Region and the Obuasi Health Centre in the Ashanti Region, saying they were practically at the completion stages.
Debt restructuring
Dr Okoe Boye said a number of ongoing projects had also been affected by the government’s debt restructuring programme. They included the reconstruction of the central medical stores that was destroyed by fire; the Eastern Regional Hospital in Koforidua, and the construction of the 12-storey maternity and gynaecology block at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.
Other impacted projects are the construction of a sub-Regional Hospital at Tema and the La General Hospital. He explained that the government had secured some funds for the La General Hospital and has been able to mobilise the contractor to site.
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Regarding the intended upgrade of the Tema General Hospital to a €90 million Regional Hospital, he said the government would do all it could to see the resumption of the project as soon as possible. The project is currently 20 per cent completed.
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