President Akufo-Addo presents a package to a police officer for medical treatment
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo yesterday commissioned two projects, a virtual medical centre and a new out-patient facility at the Police Hospital in Accra.
He also launched a GHC6.1 million Police Emergency Medical Intervention Fund for personnel of the Ghana Police Service.
The President said he had been assured that beneficiaries of the fund do not have to go through “the usual bureaucracies and the associated delays which have, in the past, resulted, in some cases, in personnel losing their lives whilst awaiting treatment, and the deterioration of medical conditions of some others”.
He made presentations of various sums of money to the first three beneficiaries of the fund, Chief Inspector Victor Anako, Inspector Theresa Ohene and Corporal Isaac Asuman Opoku, to cover the cost of their medical treatment in Ghana and abroad.
President Akufo-Addo expressed the hope that “all police officers who require medical treatment will receive the best of care, without recourse to the cost of treatment.”
OPD
Commissioning the other projects, the President said “the wealth of the nation depends on the health of its people”, adding that his government was therefore doing all that it takes to give the citizenry quality and affordable healthcare.
“We have to be healthy to transform Ghana. We have to be healthy to make a brighter future for Ghana. We have to be healthy to work for ourselves,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo commended management of the Police Hospital for constructing the new OPD, which he said would help decongest the existing one.
The new OPD, which cost a modest GHC180,000, will be dedicated to emergency cases only, in line with best practices.
“It will ensure clear line of separation between emergency cases and routine OPD services, thereby improving the quality of service delivery at the hospital,” he said.
Medical Virtual Centre
The President also expressed excitement about the medical virtual centre.
“As most of you may know, since I assumed office some five years ago, one of the obvious successes chalked by government has been the execution of the impressive agenda to digitise fully, all aspects of our national life,” he stated.
He mentioned the national identification system, digital property address system, paperless port system, the E-Justice system, mobile money interoperability system as some of the massive digitalisation projects undertaken to improve transparency, accountability and efficiency in the delivery of public services.
The facility, which costs GHC50, 000, will allow patients, irrespective of their location in the country, to undertake virtual consultations with healthcare professionals from the Police Hospital.
“Police personnel, irrespective of their location, can now access healthcare services from the hospital anywhere in the country at any time. Officers of the Service are guaranteed a protected platform for seamless consultation with the doctors,” he assured.
The President added that if the medical situation of a patient demands a higher level of attention, the medical doctor will ensure that the right thing is done for the patient to receive prompt medical attention.
“Beginning with virtual OPD attendance, through diagnosis, laboratory referrals, prescription of drugs, and subsequent reviews, all of these medical processes can be done without one having to travel from his or her station. Indeed, if the medical situation of a patient demands a higher level of attention, the medical doctor would immediately make the necessary arrangements for the patient to be evacuated to the nearest medical facility for treatment,” the President said.
He added: “This Virtual Medical Centre, the first of its kind in the public sector, is, indeed, worthy of emulation, and could not have come at a better time, as we continue to battle the scourge of COVID-19, which has, to a significant extent, limited person-to-person contact.”
Standards Bureau
In a related development, the Minister of Interior, Ambrose Derry, yesterday inaugurated the Police Professional Bureau Standards (PPBS).
He explained that the responsibilities of the Bureau will be to instil discipline among officers for the Service.
The Bureau will be a reform and monitoring body that will replace the Police Intelligence and Professional Standards.
The Minister noted that the creation of the Bureau followed numerous complaints the Service was receiving from the public concerning not only acts of unprofessionalism but also misconduct on the part of some police officers.
Manifesto promise
He added that the intervention also formed part of the NPP’s pledge in its 2016 Manifesto to reform the Service to deliver on its mandate.
The inaugural ceremony was also climaxed with the handing over of an office complex for the Bureau. The three-storey edifice was built and donated by Togbe Nana Amo I at a total cost of GHC3, 982,700.
To have a nationwide appeal and impact, he called on the police administration to decentralise PPBS to get it active in all the 18 police regions across the country.
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