Psychiatric hospitals owe food, medical suppliers over GH¢10m
The three public psychiatric hospitals owe food and medical suppliers over GH¢10 million.
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The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Mental Health Authority, Dr Akwasi Osei, who made this known, said though the government released GH¢1.5 million to the three hospitals last week to ease the current financial pressure, “ the psychiatric hospitals are still in a financial crisis, which requires urgent attention.”
He was speaking at the mid-year review meeting of the Ankaful Psychiatric Hospital, near Cape Coast, last Tuesday.
Dr Osei said the debts had been accumulated by the Accra, Pantang and Ankaful Psychiatric hospitals over the past four years.
He stated that but for the release of the funds last week, all the three hospitals would have stopped outpatient care and sent some of the patients home.
No exaggeration
He denied that the financial crisis of the psychiatric hospitals was being blown out of proportion.
"It is certainly not being blown out of proportion at all," he stated.
Dr Osei said “all the three psychiatric hospitals were going to stop outpatient care this week. It is a real crisis situation.”
He added that while other hospitals could generate income, the psychiatric hospitals were by law not allowed to generate any income, thus compounding their financial situation.
Mental Health Fund
Dr Osei said he believed with the establishment of the Mental Health Fund (MHF), under the Mental Health Act, the psychiatric hospitals would be able to work their way out of the debt situation.
He said the MHF would be funded with a mental health levy, which will be either a new levy or taxation or part of an existing taxation.
Inadequate funding
The Director of the Ankaful Hospital, Dr Eugene Dordoye, stated that due to inadequate funding, patient intake had reduced, while hospital infrastructure had deteriorated.
He, however, stated that the hospital was working within its limited resources to promote public private partnership to build a mortuary to generate revenue.
Dr Dordoye commended the staff for working under very trying conditions.