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Tamale, Ghana – The Concerned Youth Groups of Northern Ghana, an amalgamation of eight different youth groups in Northern Ghana, is accusing management of the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH) of deliberately trying to undo the gains chalked in recent years under the previous administration of Dr. David Zaawumya Kolbilla.
CYGNG say the current acting Chief Executive Officer of TTH, Board Chairman and the directors of various departments of the hospital “are deliberately running down the facility for their own selfish interest”.
CYGNG at a news conference in Tamale on Monday, said the radiology department consisting of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computerized tomography (CT) scan, ultrasound and x-ray machines has been rendered nonfunctional due to breakdown of all the machines.
The situation, they claim, has compelled many patients to go to private facilities owned by some of the directors and their allies to seek services which are more expensive compared to what the TTH would have charged them to pay if the machines in the radiology department were functioning.
“…At the end December, 2019, the ultrasound machines and the CT Scan were functioning and serving the good people of the north but now all of them are broken down and patients are daily referred to private facilities to under those images….
We also understand that a 24hr laboratory that was established in 2018 at the emergency department to serve the patients at all times has been dissolved…the hospital is not able to run most of the laboratory investigations, hence patients and relatives have no option but to do laboratory tests requested for them outside the hospital”, the group alleged.
But responding to the allegations, acting Public Relations Officer of TTH, Misbao Mohammed, admitted that equipment in the radiology department of the hospital were indeed broken down since 2018.
“It’s been down for close to 2 years and that is as a result of the machines running into problems. The MRI runs on helium and each time we run short of the helium we have to import the helium from South Africa or Egypt and we have to go through a lot of processes. Unfortunately, this year when we got the money to import the helium the borders were close as a result of the covid outbreak. As we speak now, some engineers have flown in to check the machines and they have also give the hospital the cost involved. Funds are being arranged to ensure that both the MRI and CT scan are brought back to live,” Mr. Mohammed pointed out.
“The laboratory at the accident and emergency department is still running as 24hr facility. It was set up between March and April this year and designated to deal with suspected cases of covid-19 and confirm cases of covid-19. This was done so that we don’t expose our staff to so much danger. But it is solely for covid-19 cases”, he further explained.
The Concerned Youth Groups of Northern Ghana comprises Mamprugu Youth Association (MAYA), Zaabuni Youth for Development, Mamprugu Development Association (MADA), Northern Youth Patriots, The Big Six, Brotherhood, Friends of TTH and the Dombo Youth Group.
By SavannahNewsOnline.Com/Philip Liebs
