Former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the University of Ghana Medical Centre (UGMC), Dr Darius Osei, has urged hospital managers to take greater responsibility for the effective management and upkeep of their facilities.
According to him, the proper functioning of a hospital largely depends on the quality of leadership and management at the facility, rather than waiting for the sector Minister or central government to address basic operational issues.
Speaking on Adom TV’s Badwam, Dr Osei likened a hospital to a hotel, arguing that patients deserve a clean, serene and comfortable environment while receiving treatment.
“The hospital is like a hotel that you go to sleep in with your own money. So you ask yourself, what kind are you looking for? You want a serene and neat environment and a good bedsheet to sleep on but we always think the sick are vulnerable so they don’t have a choice,” he noted.
He said hospital administrators are entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring that patients receive not only effective treatment but also quality and seamless care in a conducive environment.
“In a properly functional hospital will depend on the leadership. You don’t expect the Minister to come and tell you how to manage your facility. You have been given a work, so you are responsible.
“Apart from treating the person for them to be healed, what are the other functions? That will make the hospital great? Because if the ward is not a place well kept for patients to be, if you admit someone there, it won’t be good,” he said.
Dr Osei stressed the need for hospital managers to prioritise cleanliness, organisation and the overall patient experience as part of efforts to ensure seamless care.
“So you have to ensure that you provide seamless care. It all depends on priority for you to,” he added.
He further argued that quality healthcare management does not always depend on having abundant resources, but rather on how effectively available resources are utilised.
“It doesn’t matter to have all the resources in this world, and that is what quality assurance is, making the best out of the minimum resources.
“Neatness doesn’t need money. It’s the approach, organisation, and how you carry people to see this is required from every living thing on this earth.”
Dr Osei questioned why basic maintenance issues, such as overgrown grass or damaged nets at health facilities, should automatically become the responsibility of central government.
“So I don’t think if somewhere is grown of grasses, a net is torn, it should be the responsibility of central government,” he said.
