The Allied Health Professions Council has shut down six health facilities in the Ho Zonal Area for failing to meet basic regulatory and safety requirements.
The closures followed a compliance exercise conducted by the Council to assess the operations of health facilities and determine whether they were meeting the required standards.
The affected facilities are Grace Diagnostic Center, Eagles Lancet and Imaging Center, RD Access Laboratories, Elysa Diagnostic, Professional Eye Care and Bestlab Diagnostic.
According to the Council, some of the facilities inspected were operating without approved Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to guide their services and the use of medical equipment.
Speaking to Accra-based Citi News, Registrar of the Allied Health Professions Council, Professor Issahaku Shirazu, said the absence of documented procedures could put patients at risk and make it difficult for the regulator to guarantee the quality of care being provided.
“Many of them don’t have standard operating procedures and it’s a serious offense to practice without an SOP, which we believe does not augur well with patient safety,” he said.
Professor Shirazu said the Council was also concerned about the inability of some facilities to clearly explain the procedures they follow or the equipment they use in delivering healthcare services.
“We cannot guarantee patient safety because we don’t know what or which equipment you’re using,” he said.
He said the Council would engage the affected health professionals and encourage them to develop and implement the appropriate protocols required to guide their operations.
The compliance exercise forms part of the Council’s broader efforts to strengthen the regulation of allied health facilities and ensure that healthcare providers meet the necessary standards for safe and quality service delivery.
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