NHIA rescues 28 schemes (Front Page)

Saturday February 28, 2009

WORKERS at the country’s premier hospital, the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH), have said they are unable to cope with the volume of accident cases reported at the Accident Centre because of the increasing numbers and inadequate facilities.
Figures provided by the hospital authorities showed that the number of accident cases reported at the hospital which stood at 3,410 in 2007 rose to 4,101 in 2008, an increase of 20.3 per cent.
Throwing more light on the issue at the opening of its annual performance review seminar in Accra yesterday, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the hospital, Professor Nii Otu Nartey, said what made the matter more serious was the fact that in addition to accident cases, the number of other patients also kept increasing and stated that the hospital recorded 323,752 out-patients in 2008, as against 277,292 in 2007.
Prof Nartey, therefore, called for a review of the various interventions which were implemented over the years to reduce the carnage on the roads.
On the increase in the number of OPD patients, the CEO attributed it to the implementation of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), which he said was also creating problems for the hospital because of delays in the payment of fees.
He said records of NHIS attendance at the hospital showed a steady rise from 15,000 in 2006 to 64,000 in 2007 and 132,934 in 2008.
Prof Nartey said although the NHIS was a laudable project, the delay in reimbursement was affecting the operations of the hospital and said the total cost of services rendered from 2006 to 2008 was GH¢5,635,829.98, out of which GH¢3,933,391.56 had been paid.
“The outstanding bill yet to be paid is GH¢1,702,438.42, being 30 per cent of total claims submitted,” he said.
The CEO also observed that the free maternal health care which was introduced in 2008 had increased the number of deliveries at the KBTH, thereby reducing its effectiveness at handling complicated deliveries that needed specialists care.
Prof Nartey also touched on other areas and pointed out that the hospital continued to grapple with congestion at the Surgical, Medical and Emergency Unit where non-trauma cases were seen, adding that in 2007 a total of 7,616 cases were admitted to the unit, increasing to 9,801 in 2008, representing a rise of 29 per cent.
On some of its achievement during the year under review, the CEO said for the first in the history of the country a team of doctors at the hospital teamed up with their colleagues from the United Kingdom to undertake kidney transplant on three patients who were currently doing well.
He hinted that plans were underway to perform more kidney transplants in May this year and added that the hospital was making plans to build a local team which would, in due course, take over the essential surgical procedure of kidney transplanting.
The CEO also announced that as part of its efforts to introduce cutting-edge methods in treating patients, it had introduced an advanced method in treating prostrate cancer with a method referred to as brachytherapy.
He explained that the method had minimal post-operative complications, as well as higher success rate, adding that a second batch of patients underwent brachytherapy last month which was performed solely by a local team of doctors and other medical professionals.
In his opening address, the Director of Administration of the hospital, Mr Chris Nartey, said the purpose of the two-day seminar was to offer the heads of all the units the opportunity to share ideas and experiences to help them to improve on their performance for the future.
In addition, he explained, it would help in the preparation of a programme for this year, as well as other programmes which were needed towards improved healthcare delivery.