The Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA) is pushing government to add nurseries and bungalows to the Agenda 111 architectural designs since their inclusion would be critical to the delivery of quality health care at these facilities.
Agenda 111 is a flagship government project that would lead to the construction 0f 101 district hospitals, six regional hospitals in the newly created regions, two specialised hospitals in the middle and northern belts, as well as a regional hospital in the Western Region and renovation of the Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital.
The idea gathered steam following the stress test of the nation’s health facilities with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Accommodation
According to the GRNMA, the location of the facilities under Agenda 111 would require that nurses and midwives are transferred and many of them would be attracted to take such a decision if they would feel comfortable.
The President of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA), Perpetual Ofori-Ampofo in an interview with the B&FT said they are making a passionate call to government on the issue at a time that there is room for a bit of add on.
“It is important that we have the accommodation for all health professionals and not only doctors because they would not be the only health professional working at the facilities, nurses and other people would also be there.
If the doctor gets to a hospital early during an emergency because he or she lives close and the nurse would have to travel, you can imagine the inconvenience. Accommodation brings a lot of financial burden on the nurses and the midwives and if they are well accommodated, they have the peace of mind to work,” Mrs. Ofori-Ampofo said.
Nursery facilities
She noted that a cursory glance at the demography of today’s nurses show that many would need reliable nursery centres in the coming years to take care of their newborns.
“A lot of the nurses are in their youth and are now getting married and giving birth; when there is a baby and the nurse has no relative where he or she has been posted, it causes a lot of frustration, and the person might not work soundly. If there are nursery facilities, the nurse would just have to hand over their child, go to work and after, come to pick their kids. These facilities would also not only be limited to health professionals but also the community.”
She added that Agenda 111 is a good move but when these are added, it would make it better by providing the health care workers with some comfort.
Health Tourism
Some players in the health sectors say Ghana may be positioning itself as a health and medical tourism destination if the planned construction of 111 health and medical infrastructure facilities across the country is delivered. The ultra-modern health and medical infrastructure proposition is potentially the largest healthcare project in West Africa.
Last week, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo cut the sod symbolically at Trede – a town in Ashanti Region – to signal commencement of the Agenda 111 hospital projects across the country. A hospital under the project is estimated to cost the country some US$16.88 million each.
