The Accra Psychiatric Hospital will by close of Monday discharge 40 patients who are the first batch of 300 patients to be discharged in the coming days to decongestant the mental health facility.
Family members of the patients have been contacted to transport their relatives back home.
Kasapa FM’s Adwoa Adobea Effah Frimpong who visited the Hospital Monday morning said documentation to this effect is being worked on while logistics are also being secured to make the process possible.
Nurses at the facility have been on strike for a week now, over poor working conditions they are forced to work under. They complained that work at the facility poses serious risk to them.
The nurses also complained that, the lack of some logistics and materials at the hospital, makes it difficult for them to discharge their duties effectively, hence their decision to lay down their tools.
Meanwhile, the funds government promised to release to the hospital is yet to hit its account.
Government has assured to release an amount of GHC 670,000 to the Accra Psychiatric Hospital hospital by close of Monday (today) for the effective running of the mental health institution.
According to the Deputy Minister of Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, this follows an earlier amount of GHC 340,000 and drugs worth GHC 153,000 presented to the hospital last week.
Nurses at the facility have been on strike since Monday, over poor working conditions they are forced to work under. They complained that work at the facility poses serious risk to them.
Patients who visited the Accra Psychiatric Hospital on Wednesday, September 28, had to return home due to the closure of its Out Patient Department (OPD) to the public.
The hospital’s administrators said they were compelled to take the decision as a result of their worsened financial situation. Suppliers of the hospital have withdrawn the supply of essential medical products over unpaid debts.
Government has on several occasions denied the facility of the money required to effectively run it, a situation which is severely affecting mental healthcare services in the country.
But speaking on Joy FM’s News File show on Saturday, Felix Kwakye Ofosu stated that government remains committed to improving the conditions at the health centre and will do everything possible to ameliorate the current difficulties facing the hospital.
“Earlier in the year, all three psychiatric hospitals received GHC 500,000 each. In the case of the Accra Psychiatric hospital, they are looking for drugs and consumables to facilitate their work. As I speak to you by Monday, they should have received a total of GHC1 m, that is the outstanding balance of GHC 670,000 would have been paid to them. That will be following the receipt of GHC 340,000 and drugs totaling GHC 153,000. So something is being done to ameliorate the situation, we did not anticipate that we’ll fall into the difficulty that we’ve had over the last week. Certainly more can be done for mental health. Subsequently, the creditors will also be spoken to and a road map outlined to amortize the debt, it is a worrying situation…government is deeply concerned about it and we have acted expeditiously to ameliorate the situation.”
