NEW PHARMACY FOR TEMA GENERAL HOSPITAL (PAGE 23, SEPT 29, 2010)

THE Tema General Hospital (TGH) now has a separate block for its pharmacy department to avoid overcrowding and congestion in the existing facility which is in the main out-patients block.
The new pharmacy which is located near the fevers unit of the hospital has a conference room, counselling unit, drug information unit, four store rooms and three offices and was constructed at GH¢270,000.
It was initiated by the Head of the Pharmacy department of the hospital, Mr Stephen Adase.
Speaking at the ceremony to officially open the pharmacy, the Medical Director of the hospital, Dr (Mrs) Charity Sarpong, said the project was funded through the hospital’s internally generated funds.
She said the hospital had not seen any major renovation since it was established over 50 years ago.
That, Dr Sarpong noted, had created overcrowding and congestion at the existing facilities. He also hinted that most of the departments leaked but the pharmacy was the worst hit.
“This has led to extensive destruction of drugs stocked for distribution to patients,” she lamented.
According to her, the old pharmacy department had a limited space for the client population that visited the facility daily.
While commending the staff for strides made to ensure the completion of the expanded facility, Dr Sarpong paid glowing tribute to the officials of GR Pharma, Tobinco Pharmacy and Ernest Chemist for providing furnishing and drug stock for the department.
She appealed to the Ghana Health Service (GHS) and the Ministry of Health (MOH) to speed up the processes of upgrading the facility into a regional hospital as it has become a referral point for all forms of cases in and out of Tema.
The Director General of the Ghana Health Services, Dr Ellias Sory, who inaugurated the project with the assistance of the Tema Mantse Nii Adjei Kraku challenged other health institutions to emulate the effort made by the management of the Tema General Hospital and take the initiative instead of waiting for funding from the GHS .
He called for better maintenance practices towards the project to extend the lifespan of the facility.
Dr Sory was of the view that maternal deaths that occurred at health facilities were not necessarily from complications and negligence but also from unhygienic conditions at the centres.
He explained that this has been identified as a major threat to the efforts of the GHS to fight against maternal and child mortality.
Dr Sory called for greater collaboration between hospital staff, management and the general public towards clients who trooped to health facilities daily for solutions to their health needs.
The Tema Mantse Nii Adjei Kraku who chaired the function praised the management of the hospital for their initiative .
He said the construction of the facility had come at an opportune time to serve the numerous referred and accident cases owing to its proximity to main roads leading to the Volta and Eastern Regions.
Nii Kraku re-echoed earlier calls for the adoption of good maintenance cultures.