Facilities Association of Ghana (PHFAoG) advocates more collaboration with government
The Vice President of the Private Health Facilities Association of Ghana (PHFAoG) Mr Boakye Donkor, has stressed the need for more collaboration between the private sector healthcare providers and the government to promote quality healthcare delivery in the country.
Mr Donkor said the PHFAoG was the second biggest health providers with 1,310 members in the country, next to the Ghana Health Service (GHS), and the leadership was in close consultation with the government to find solution to the employment of the 68,000 unemployed nurses in the country.
He was speaking at an annual general meeting of Volta and the Oti Region branch of the Association at Sokode-Lokoe near Ho, where the third national conference of the Association was launched on the theme: ‘’Unlocking Opportunities- Leveraging Government Private Sector Development Policy to Boost Ghana’s Private Health Sector’’, which would be celebrated in the Volta Region in October this year.
According to Mr Donkor, it was important for management of the facilities to collaborate effectively to promote quality health delivery, saying no individual facility could work in isolation and expected to be successful.
Mr Donkor said it was only when facilities work together that they would be able to share ideas on best practices to enhance service delivery to the people, and make healthcare provision more appreciated by their clients.
The General Secretary of PHFAoG, Mr Frank Richard Torblu, said the Association was not satisfied with the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) for announcing payment of claims to facilities, while the healthcare providers did not receive any payment.
Mr Torblu also stressed the need for the government to ensure that whenever tariff increments in electricity and water were made, the same should apply to the private health facilities to avoid co-payment in healthcare delivery.
The Volta and Oti Region Coordinator of the Health Facilities Regulatory Agency (HeFRA), Mr David Nkegbe Agornyrah, announced that it was unfortunate that some of the private health facilities failed to adhere to regulatory rules, and announced that facilities which were operating without license would be close down.
Mr Agornyrah therefore urged the Association to ensure that all their members were registered and called for effective collaboration with his outfit to promote quality health delivery, and stressed the need for the management of health facilities to ensure compliance and get registered.
The Volta Region Operations Manager of the NHIA, Mr Emmanuel Avinu, said the vital role that the private healthcare providers played in the provision of quality health in the country, could not be overemphasised, and urged the management of the facilities to work hard to improve their services.
Mr Avinu also cautioned facilities that engaged in charging illegal fees to refrain from the practice, and urged the leaders of the Association to ensure strict compliance of healthcare provision rules and regulations.
The Volta and Oti Regions Chairperson of the Association, Mrs Agnes Nkansah, said the Association would continue to operate strategically in line with national health delivery policies, stressing that the Association was committed to accountability and cooperation to improve on accessible health delivery in the country.
FROM SAMUEL AGBEWODE, SOKODE-LOKOE
