Government Is Committed To Improving Health Care – UWR Minister

The Upper West Regional Minister, Hon. Ing. Amin Amidu Sulemani has reiterated government's commitment to improving health care across the country.

He said government is providing adequate healthcare facilities to health institutions to ensure effective and efficient healthcare delivery in both rural and urban areas while committing resources into the training of Nurses and Midwives to offer prompt healthcare services.

He noted that the health sector has seen tremendous improvements in the last few years in terms of infrastructural development.

"The government is embarking on a healthcare plan to improve accessibility, quality and cost effective healthcare for Ghanaians. In the area of accessibility, the government has constructed a number of health facilities including the expansion of the Tamale Teaching Hospital, the Bolgatanga Regional Hospital and the construction of a new 60 bed capacity WA Regional Hospital."

" In the Upper West Region alone, over 65 CHPS compounds have been completed and in use" He added.

He made this comments in his keynote address at the 2016 induction ceremony for Nurses and Midwives who qualified in 2015 at the Jubilee Park in WA .

He described as very clamorous the role of nurses and midwives in the provision of healthcare services in the country stating that " nurses and midwives spend more time in direct contact with patients than physicians do", therefore the experience of patients is highly influenced by the services provided by health workers to them.

He charged the newly inducted nurses and midwives to be professional in the discharge of their duties and further admonished them to religiously abide by the code of professional conduct to ensure that Ghanaians get impeccable nursing and midwifery care. He censured them to be cautiously innovative and continuously search for knowledge in order not to remain stale in the profession.

The minister also commended the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Ghana for introducing French and sign language as a new course for the training of nurses and midwives. This, according to him would enable them to "better extend nursing and midwifery care to patients who are so impaired as well as those from neighbouring French speaking countries who cannot speak English.

A total of over 3000 newly qualified nurses and midwives from the three northern regions were inducted by the chairperson of the 13th Governing Board, Mrs. May Osae Addai assisted by the registrar of the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Ghana, Felix Nyante.