Physiotherapists call for better working conditions
The President of the Ghana Physiotherapy Association, Dr. Jonathan Quartey on Thursday tasked the Government to be proactive and stop paying lip-services to ensure total and quality health care delivery in the country.
According to him, physiotherapists are the end-point in the health care process and it is time policy makers noticed their importance and accord them the needed recognition and also provide them with the necessary equipment and facilities to perform better.
Dr. Quartey made this appeal in an interview with the GNA at the opening of a two day seminar in Cape Coast, organized by the Association to assess its progress and learn about their challenges.
He was unhappy that, 15 years after the government had provided 16 physiotherapy facilities across the country to bring that service to the doorstep of patients, nothing much has been done in terms of re-equipping and expansion.
The President of the Association explained that the abysmal ratio of patients to physiotherapists at the various hospitals does not permit very effective sessions with patients, indicating that, the presence of more physiotherapists would ease the work load on the few ones and enhance health care delivery.
He called for better working conditions for physiotherapists to prevent them from veering into private services and other careers.
Currently, there are an estimated 200 physiotherapists in the country with the Central Region having only four.
Physiotherapy is done to promote wellness, mobility and independent for patients who are inactive, aging or have suffered various injuries.
Other benefits of physiotherapy are the promotion of mental health and the prevention of diseases such as cancer, heart problems, diabetes and obesity, both in adults and children, whilst it recommends daily exercises, which is vital to healthy living.
Dr. Quartey said physiotherapy involves physical activity and therefore to ensure quality care, practitioners are to spend between 30 and 60 minutes with one patient, but due to the heavy workload, they are compelled to rush their patients through their sessions.
Source: GNA