DOCTORS URGED TO BE PROFESSIONAL (PAGE 22, JAN 9, 2010)

medical officers at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) have been urged to display a high level of professionalism in the discharge of their duties and show compassion for patients to enhance quality delivery of services in 2010.
It is only when medical officers prove that they care for their patients even in difficult times that ”patients would also appreciate and acknowledge that you care, so that even in death, they would appreciate that you did your best”.
Addressing medical staff at the KATH during their annual end-of-year thanksgiving service, Mr Opoku Manu, the Ashanti Regional Minister noted: “May your hearts and mind be touched and filled with mercy to enable you to offer quality health care service to patients in 2010.”
The annual thanksgiving service was organised to offer opportunity for the staff at the KATH to converge on the forecourt of the hospital for them to offer praises to God for His guidance and protection in 2009.
It also afforded them the opportunity to pray for God’s guidance and control in 2010 to enable them to become more committed and dedicated in providing quality healthcare service for their patients.
Commending the staff for their quality performance in 2009, Mr Opoku Manu said it was important for them to adopt a better strategy in quality healthcare service delivery to enable them to be on course in achieving excellence in health care.
“You should strive to do better this year for patients to appreciate your efforts,“ he said, adding that “as you strive to achieve excellence in healthcare service delivery, it is important for you to eschew attitudes that could undermine the good image you are building for the hospital”.
He said the Government was concerned about the numerous challenges that confronted them and assured them that efforts would be made to address such challenges to enhance quality healthcare service delivery.
The Chief Executive of the KATH, Professor Ohene Adjei, pointed out that the increase in the number of patients attending hospital as a result of the introduction of the national health insurance scheme was making quality healthcare service delivery more challenging.
“The coming year will not be different, and we must, therefore, learn from the lessons we gained this year in order to offer better services to our clients in the year ahead,” he said.
Prof. Ohene Adjei said as a tertiary health centre in the northern sector, and being the last hope of patients from that sector, there was the need for the medical officers “to strive to do the best we can to bring the smiles on the faces of people who come here for our services”.
He said management was committed to the provision of the needed logistics to enable them to deliver to the expectation of patients.
“Management will continue to pursue continued professional development interventions to adequately prepare you for the challenges ahead,” he assured.
He, however, pleaded that they should committed to “the maintenance of industrial peace and refrain from the use of strikes in our quest for improved service conditions”.
“We must endeavour to make maximum use of the available internal grievance resolution mechanisms in seeking redress as resorting to strikes tend to overshadow the tremendous sacrifices you have been making in providing the best of care for the public,“ he stressed.