The Executive Director of the Christian Health Association of Ghana, Dr. Peter Kwame Yeboah, has challenged hospital managers, especially in rural health facilities to ensure that quality is upheld at all times in the attempt to ensure continuity of essential health services amidst COVID-19 response.
Dr. Peter Yeboah recognizing the national and global impact of the COVID-19 added that more harm and non-COVID-19 related deaths may have occurred due to inefficient health services delivery.
“While COVID-19 is of national and global attention, more people are affected by poor health services delivery, many may have died out of other conditions that are not COVID related the continuity of quality services is an essential mandate that must be upheld”
Dr. Peter Yeboah was speaking at the opening of the second phase of the Quality Improvement training workshop which opened on Monday morning in Sunyani.
The training, which was the second in the year, assembled managers from some selected health centers and clinics in the rural and hard-to-reach communities under CHAG.
Dr. Yeboah mentioned that CHAG considers quality as both a journey and a destination thus the need to demonstrate it without any form of discrimination, but the quality that breeds the right morale, compassion, right attitude, and even an environment that is WASH compliant.
He indicated that CHAG continues to make significant investments in quality in all its facilities with the goal of making sure mimicking each other. Dr. Peter Yeboah, therefore, acknowledged all partners who continue to empower CHAG to ensure quality care at all times. He particularly praised The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) for its singular effort in the CRIB project.
“As concerned as we are about the continuity of essential services, we are empowered to deliver under the of tenets of quality regardless of location, social status, or gender. It is for this reason that the support of the FCDO is vital for the 40 CRIB Project districts”
Since implementation started in July 2020, the CRIB project funded by FCDO has made significant strides in contributing to Ghana Government’s COVID-19 response. The project has developed the capacity of over 6,664 health staff from GHS, CHAG, quasi-government and private facilities in 40 districts on IPC, contact tracing, screening and triaging, and case management through a step-down training in various facilities in the 40 districts.
Coordination of COVID-19 response at the District level has been remarkably strengthened through the District Health Executive Platform (DHEP) supported by the project. Through this platform, the 40 districts discuss and provide solutions to contextual problems related to COVID-19 in their respective districts.
The CRIB project has also expanded testing, contact tracing, case management, and risk communication to rural areas that otherwise would not have had access to these interventions on COVID-19