By Godfred A. Polkuu, GNA
Bolgatanga, Oct. 23, GNA - The Upper East Regional Hospital in Bolgatanga has for the past few days recorded high admissions in six units with some patients receiving medical care on the floor, stretchers and benches.
As at 2200 hrs on Tuesday, when the Ghana News Agency visited the hospital which is a major referral facility for the Region, patients who had been reviewed by doctors during the general ward rounds in the early hours of the morning were still in queue at the pharmacy unit, yet to be served their medications.
At the Out-Patient Department (OPD) emergency room which contains four beds, mainly to detain and stabilise critically ill patients before they are transferred to the wards, about 10 patients were detained with some being nursed on benches and trolleys while their relatives stood by them.
At the main emergency ward which detains patients for only 24 hours, 15 patients were detained, out of which eight had elapsed the 24 hour period but could not be sent to the medical wards because they were full.
The situation at the Paediatric unit was worse, because the 41 bed capacity unit admitted about 74 children as at the time the GNA visited the ward.
Some nurses, who spoke to the GNA on condition of anonymity, said the predominant cases recorded at the Paediatric unit were malaria and anaemia adding that the situation has compelled management of the unit to move some of the children to an old maternity block which has been refurbished for a different purpose.
“It has not been easy here at all, we have been on our feet throughout since we took over from the afternoon staff. As you can see, admissions are still coming in and the whole place is full. We cannot also send them back,” a night nurse told the GNA at the Paediatric unit.
At the female medical and surgical wards with a total number of 34 beds; 39 patients were on admission, 26 were medical cases while 13 were surgical cases, three out of the number were nursed on stretchers and two on benches.
The male medical ward which has 16 beds had 18 patients on admission while the male surgical ward recorded a low figure of 22 patients with a bed capacity of 26.
Maternity and Tuberculosis wards and the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit had some few beds to admit expectant mothers and neonates as they recorded 31, 17 and 8 patients respectively.
Mr Zakariah Yakubu, the Head of Administration of the Hospital, in an interview with the GNA, said they were encountering challenges and the hospital could not afford to send any patient away, insisting that it is better to manage patients on any available space than send them away.
Our goal is to give patients the basic health care so that they can recover,” he said.
He called on other health facilities, especially private health facilities to endeavour to refer patients as early as possible adding that “once referral cases come that late, it places a lot of pressure on us and our limited resources”.
GNA
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