As Korle-bu Hospital deteriorates, management looks the other way while paying itself fat bonuses

The Korle-bu Teaching Hospital, a legacy of British colonisation and Western medicine has for more than 75 years, served the health needs of Ghanaians, Africans and some Westerners.

The hospital’s legendary effectiveness earned it many clients and accolades, including a popular song titled, ‘Korle-bu’. It has been the centre of medical training in the sub-region, until recently. That is changing, and it is likely to change in the long term, when the University of Ghana Medical Centre begins operations.

In recent times however, the foremost hospital in Ghana has become a pale shadow of its glorious past, gradually becoming an outstanding example of poor management. The hospital has been ran down by mismanagement, alleged corruption and deepening indiscipline among some of its staff.

The hospital, which is touted as the third largest hospital in Africa and the leading national referral centre in Ghana might look fully functional from the outside but inside, some of the wards and departments display horrid scenes that shouldn’t be associated with a tertiary medical facility with Korle-bu’s remarkable history. Despite the very high calibre of health experts and professionals, and Korle-bu has some of the best medical experts in the world, the hospital has been called a ‘death trap’ by people who have lost family members under circumstances that they considered avoidable in a facility with Korle-bu’s history. Most potential clients even erroneously believe that anyone who is ill and goes to Korle-bu, only goes there to die.

During a visit by ghanabusinessnews.com to the hospital, we found that the Children’s Emergency Block has been closed for almost four years now with no signs of immediate renovation.

And the current facility being used as the Children’s Emergency Block is not spacious enough to accommodate the number of patients who visit the place, and ventilation is poor.

The Public Relations Officer of the hospital, Mr Mustapha Salifu in a media interview in 2014 said that the hospital was on the threshold of starting work on the project when it received other proposals for the expansion of the block into a bigger facility.

“So we are now trying to integrate the new plan and the old one, so that we can have a much bigger place,” he was quoted as saying in the interview.

However the Children’s Emergency Block is still in a deplorable state, exposing both patients and healthcare workers to risks of infections and possible slow deaths.

The Out Patient Department (OPD) of the Gynaecology department which is dedicated to treating conditions related to women and their reproductive needs is now housed in a rickety wooden structure with broken windows, and patients are compelled to sit in corridors at the surgical OPD to access healthcare.

The maternity block next to the Children’s Emergency block is also not in good shape.

Investigations by ghanabusinessnews.com, also found that the kitchen facility on the fourth floor of the Medical Department.

has been malfunctioning for some weeks now, compelling patients on admission and ward maids to wash their plates and cups in the bathroom.

Mr Oblitey Clifford James, General Secretary of the Korle-bu Senior Staff Association (KOSSA) is unhappy about the conditions in the hospital and is advocating for change.

He points out that, “Monies generated at Korle-bu are people’s “suffering money” because they are monies derived from people suffering from diseases and so they (patients) should be well catered for.”

“It is not like the bank where people happily go and deposit monies into their account but here people cry before raising money for healthcare and there are a lot of things that we can do to improve our level of operations here so patients feel comfortable visiting the hospital.”

A nurse who didn’t want to be identified said it was very sad that the hospital charges people for accommodation but when admitted they are not offered bed-sheets and other basic necessities to use. “The hospital takes so much but provides very little to patients,” the nurse said.

“The OPD department for stroke patients is at the top floor and patients are partially paralyzed, so apart from paying huge hospital bills, they have to incur extra costs by hiring someone to be lifting them up and down the stairs to receive medical treatment,” the nurse added, and asked, “How do you expect people in such conditions, with some walking with sticks and some in wheel chairs to climb stairs to access healthcare?”

“So that the little money that is generated in the hospital is prioritized to meet important needs,” he added.Mr Oblitey further noted, “It is very important that the hospital makes the comfort of its patients a priority so that when they enter into the facility they are assured of safe and good healthcare and this calls for prudent financial management.”

Checks at the Fevers Unit, which provides health care for People Living with HIV/AIDS, chronic skin diseases and high fever indicates that the whole department needs a complete refurbishment.

Mr Oblitey cites mismanagement of finances of the hospital, unwarranted termination of appointments and poor welfare of staff as major hurdles affecting operations at the hospital.

The Korle-bu Senior Staff Association (KOSSA) recently accused the senior management of the teaching hospital of spending on themselves some GH¢300,000 meant for the care of patients.

When ghanabusinessnews.com contacted the PRO for management’s response to these allegations and issues, he asked for a written letter which we provided with the questions, but two weeks after and some reminders, the management hasn’t responded.

Management however, sent a copy of a news release issued in January 2017 denying media reports that management has paid itself bonuses. Among other things, it said no such bonuses were paid, except that GH¢100 each was paid to 6000 staff members including National Service persons in lieu of an end-of-year party for 2016.

It also added that while no bonuses were paid, some relevant staff were paid ‘accrued allowances’ that were approved by the Board of the hospital.

By Pamela Ofori-Boateng

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