Consultant anesthetic in charge of critical care at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Dr. Chris Owoo has made a passionate appeal to the general public to support the Intensive Care Unit financially.
He noted that running of the 12-bed facility which was recently renovated to serve as a one-stop Intensive Care Unit cannot be sustained without public support.
The facility is expected to be opened soon. At a recent media tour to the facility, Dr. Owoo disclosed that there are backlog of patients who are waiting to be attended to.
He therefore decried the fact that the available consumables cannot last for six months, which he said has necessitated the need for corporate assistance to sustain its operations.
He feared the facility may be compelled to close down again without the necessary support.
‘‘The longer we wait the more delicate these patients will become, we have a lot of backlog to clear and the earlier we do the better. That is why opening this facility is very dear to our hearts to avert preventable deaths.
“We are calling on all corporate bodies and the media to assist the hospital trust fund to help sustain the facility,’’ Dr. Owoo pleaded.
Persons who receive treatment at the intensive care unit are made to pay a discounted fee of 600 compared with the estimated cost of 3000 cedis.
Aside the limited number of consumables, inadequate number of trained nurses, surgeons and physicians are some of the challenges that are likely to affect the smooth running of the facility.
He further stated, ‘‘we will need 40 more trained nurses to assist the already available nurses to run the place. Even though our surgeons are also inadequate, Ghana has the highest number of neurosurgeons in the whole of West Africa’’.
The hospital has already opened its three surgical clinics of Urology, Neurosurgery and General surgery in anticipation of the reopening of the ICU by the end of the month.
3FM gathered that drilling of the nurses for the centre will start after the Easter break to try their hands on the new equipments before final opening to patients.
Source: editors.3news.com|Ghana By Sarah Parku
