Many hospitals lack life support equipment – Medic

Majority of private hospitals in Ghana do not have the Basic Life Support (BLS) equipment to resuscitate patients before transferring them for specialist care, Dr William Ankobiah, Chief Executive of Bemuah Royal Hospital, has said.

He said this had resulted in loss of many patients in critical conditions, while being transported from private facilities to the tertiary hospitals for further assessment.

Dr Ankobiah said this when he took the Ghana News Agency round to inspect the newly opened Bemuah Royal Hospital and Training Centre at East Legon in Accra on Tuesday.

He said his experience after some months in operation, had led him to believe that many private hospitals in the country did not have the basic equipment needed to make preliminary checks on patients.

He said the situation was alarming and called on the Ghana Medical and Dental Council and the Ghana Nurses and Midwifery Council to ensure that before any private health facility was given license to operate, all the necessary basic equipment should be installed in the facility.

Dr Ankobiah, who is an American trained heart and lung specialist, said there was also the need for the nation’s doctors and nurses to be trained on how to give BLS to ensure that the patient was saved, adding that would go a long way to help prevent needless deaths.

“It should be a mandate to all doctors and nurses to learn about basic life saving practices,” the Chief Executive said.

The Bemuah Royal Hospital has the state-of-the-art equipment for healthcare delivery, a training centre, resuscitating rooms, conference rooms and other facilities.

Source: GNA