ECOBANK, Ghana Health Service launch customer care project

ECOBANK Ghana in partnership with the Ghana Health Service (GHS) on Thursday launched a “Customer Health Care,” project to help promote quality service delivery within health institutions in the country.

The project is expected to imbibe in all GHS workers, quality customer care attitudes and ensure that customer care became an integral part of the service’s culture for a better Ghana.

As part of the project, ECOBANK has in collaboration with the GHS developed training manuals and posters that would create customer care awareness and would also provide financial support in the area of employee training.

Dr George Sipa-Adja Yankey, Minister of Health, at the launch commended ECOBANK Ghana for the partnership and support, saying it would lead to improved health care delivery within the health sector, while enhancing the quality of lives of Ghanaians as far as their health status were concerned.

He called on all health workers especially doctors and nurses to make extra efforts to treat their patients with respect, love and care, in spite of the pressures and the poor state of working environment under which they work.

Dr Yankey said government was making every effort to improve the conditions of service of health workers, admitting that the challenge was great and needed the support of the private sector to achieve success.

The Minister said health care was critical for national development, arguing that a healthy nation guarantees’ a healthy and productive employment-base that could be used to generate employment, build capacity, create wealth, reduce poverty and propel economic growth.

“Government intends to make Ghana a medical tourist destination and a medical hub for the West African Sub-Region, therefore the need to prepare its health personnel to observe basic qualities as far as customer health care was concerned,” he said.

Dr Yankey said “giving maximum attention to patients and making them feel welcomed to the health facility could be considered a form of therapy that could lead to a large extent a speed up of the healing process of patients and further build public trust in the nation’s health institutions.”

He said in recent times there had been numerous public out cry over the general quality of health care delivery in health institutions, with various accusations of poor customer care and poor impute of health workers and this had spelt a bad name for the health sector.

He said it was important that all sectors under the Ministry embraced the new dimension to effective health care delivery, to help erase the negative name and perception given it by the public.

Dr Yankey said government would continue to create an enabling environment to attract public – private partnerships to support institutions in the country to develop their capacities for enhanced development and pledged government’s support to ensure the sustenance of the project.

He also called on other corporate entities and organisations to emulate the GHS partnership with ECOBANK, while imploring the GHS to put in place a monitoring team to frequently evaluate the project from time to time and make imputes for its improvement.

Mr Samuel A. Adjei, Managing Director, ECOBANK Ghana, said the Bank was proud to be associated with the GHS on the initiative to promote quality health care in Ghana, saying it was clear that in achieving its organisational framework for increased access to good quality health service, customer service should be used as a tool to increase the value of the GHS service delivery.

He explained that customers ought to be seen as ambassadors for any organisation, therefore it was important for every institution or organisation to note that good customer service leads to satisfied customers, customer retention, increased productivity and effective brand building.

Mr Adjei said the bank’s commitment to customer care had earned it various awards, the recent being the 2007 Best Bank of the year CIG and the 2007 Best in Retail Bank and Financial Advisory Services by the CIMG.

Dr Elias Sory, Director General, GHS, reiterated the call on all health workers to embrace the change and co-operate, to help bring a new and enhanced face to the GHS.

Source: GNA