Accident Centre of KBTH in full operation — Dr Kwarteng
The Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) has denied allegations that the Accident and Orthopedic Centre was unable to perform emergency surgeries last Friday as a result of the lack of key logistics.
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Speaking to the Daily Graphic during an on-the-spot check, the Head of the centre, Dr Frederick Kwarteng, said the centre ran out of sterilised logistics required for emergency surgeries last Friday but the situation was later rectified.
“The centre is operating at full capacity and operations have not been brought to a halt. It was a minor challenge that has been addressed,” he said.
The denial followed media reports that surgery at the centre had halted as a result of the breakdown of sterilisation and autoclave machines to clean logistics used for surgeries.
According to the reports, an orthopedic surgeon at the hospital (name withheld) said the centre’s capacity to operate on patients had reduced due to the non-functioning of the machines.
Minor challenge
Expatiating on the problem, Dr Kwarteng said due to the breakdown of the sterilisation and autoclave machines at the Central Sterilisation Services Department, the Accident Centre normally sent its logistics to the Cardio, the Pediatrics and the Plastic Surgery departments for sterilisation.
He said last Thursday the team of doctors on duty did a number of emergency surgeries that resulted in the shortage of sterilised logistics for the Friday team of doctors to work with.
“We also had a delay in the delivery of logistics which had been sent to the Cardio, the Pediatrics and the Plastic Surgery departments for sterilisation, resulting in that unfortunate situation which has since been rectified,” he added.
Dr Kwarteng said measures were being put in place to ensure that instances of such nature did not occur again, contending, however, that such challenges were sometimes inevitable because they worked with machines which could break down at any time.
“Meanwhile, we have put in place measures to ensure that in such unforeseen circumstances operations will not be interrupted in any way,” he said.
Disappointment
Dr Kwarteng expressed his disappointment in the doctor who hastily leaked out what he described as such delicate information to the public.
That, he explained, was because the hospital, even though a local facility, did business on the international market and, therefore, such false alarm could affect its operations.
He appealed to the staff of the hospital to respect the facility’s laid down procedures in managing critical information to avoid creating unnecessary fear and panic among the public.
Quality health care
For his part, the Public Relations Officer of the hospital, Mr Mustapha Salifu, said it had procured new sterilisation equipment that would be installed soon.
He assured the public that the hospital would continue to deliver quality health care without compromise.
He reiterated the fact that emergency surgery services at the hospital’s Accident and Orthopedic Centre were ongoing and that the centre was operating at full capacity.
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