Government to roll out booking system to rationalise hospital visitations — Okoe-Boye

Dr Bernard Okoe-Boye, minister of health designate, has announced that the government intends to implement a booking system to streamline hospital visits by the third quarter of 2024.

The booking system, which will be implemented at public health institutions, aims to minimize the number of hours Ghanaians spend in hospitals waiting to see a doctor when they are ill, as well as improve overall healthcare delivery in the country.

Dr Okoe-Boye made this known when he paid a maiden working visit to the management of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) to see how best to improve the facility as the face of healthcare delivery in the country.

He also visited the Infectious Disease, Nephrology and Urology Centers of the KBTH put up by the government to improve access to healthcare.

“We are working hard at the Ministry, together with the team, Chief Directors, and the technical advisor to make sure that by the third quarter of 2024, this government can pilot a booking system, when it comes to the hospital visitations.

“Since Guggisberg's time till now, people visit the hospital when they are not well having an idea of when they will meet a doctor saying we’ve done the same things for close to 100 years.

“It is not rocket science to have a system that makes it possible for the ordinary Ghanaian market woman, a shoemaker, to know that when I come to the hospital around 12pm that is when I will see the doctor.

“But currently if you want to see a doctor in this country, most of us will go before six o’clock because we’ve been conditioned to know that the earlier you go the higher your chance of seeing the doctor,” he added.

Dr Okoe-Boye said it was time for the country to have a system that allowed Ghanaians to visit the hospital, meet a doctor and go back home without wasting productive hours.

He said that the newly constructed Nephrology and Urology Center, which cost 38 million dollars, contains 101 beds, including around 30 beds for kidney dialysis.

“Another construction that I would like to talk about is the Fevers Unit, now the Infectious Disease Center, which faced neglect in the past,” he stated.

“I am happy that we’ve invested in improving the facility. I am confident that with this hospital’s support, together we will change the face of healthcare in this institution.

Dr Okoe-Boye said that he had been charged by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to ensure that the current healthcare system was improved.

“So, we will continue to do whatever we can human resource wise, policy, infrastructure wise, we make sure that we improve," he said.

Dr Oko-Boye said the government would give the needed attention and support to the KBTH to make it more efficient in serving the over 2000 patients it served daily.

He praised the KBTH management for their advocacy-driven ideas and projects and urged them to work hard to improve their Endowment Fund so that they can earn forex for the country.

Dr Opoku Ware Ampomaa, the Chief Executive Officer of the KBTH, thanked the minister-designate for the visit, and informed of the current state of the facility.

He said high input cost, staff attrition, space for stroke and stroke rehabilitation, as well as insufficient staff accommodation were some of the major challenges and asked the health ministry to resolve those issues.

GNA