In addition to mortality cases, hospitals in the Oti Region are also dealing with other illnesses that require specialized care, and these facilities are considered deficient in that regard. Six (6) pregnant women died during delivery in the year under review, according to the records that are available. This is not good news for the region’s efforts to provide more high-quality healthcare. The current doctor-to-patient ratio in the region is one doctor for every 21,000 patients, which is significantly higher than the recommended ratio of one doctor for every 7,500 patients. This has an adverse effect on the effective delivery of healthcare in the region, according to Dr. Osei Kuffuor Afreh, the Oti Regional Director of Health Service, who made this disclosure at their Annual Performance Review Conference at Jasikan. Filed by Robert Abilba is this report.
Under the theme “Achieving Universal Health Coverage Through the Network of Practice Approach,” duty bearers of health from the nine municipalities and administrative districts of the Oti Regions convened for a two-day annual performance review conference. Some health partners from both inside and outside the region were also present.
They were able to strategize using best practices to increase performance in the upcoming years, as well as discuss the health staff’s performance and the condition of health facilities throughout the region in the 2023 year under review, thanks to the conference.
Most of the indicators for the year 2023 compared to the previous year showed a slight improvement, according to presentations made at the conference by the various District and Municipal Health Directorates and Hospitals in the area six pregnant women tragically lost their lives during childbirth due to the region’s inability to handle and manage issues such as mortality and other specialized health cases, according to Dr. Osei Kuffuor Afreh, the Oti Regional Director of Health Service.
While the existing medical officers are doing their best, Dr. Afreh emphasized that the Oti region does in fact require specialized gynecologists and other specialists. When the situation becomes too much for them to handle, they will require the assistance of specialists.
The regional director of health services also laments the region’s continued physician shortage, which is having a negative impact on the provision of high-quality healthcare because doctors are not being replaced by those who leave for higher education.
Rev. Harrison Nii Kwatei Owoo, Chief Director of the Oti Regional Coordinating Council (ORCC), stated that the Coordinating Council is aware of the difficult obstacles the Regional Health Directorate faces in delivering high-quality healthcare and so reassured them of the ORCC’s readiness to assist in establishing a conducive environment for health workers to work in.
Meanwhile, the health directorate faces challenges from a number of health personnel requesting to be released from the region, and some health professionals from other regions frequently decline posts to the Oti region, which is attributed to the Nkwanta-South Municipality’s regular land and tribe conflicts.