Due to a lack of pharmaceuticals and key medical supplies, the Bunkpurugu Health Centre in the North East Region is on the verge of going down.
The situation at the district referral center has had an impact on healthcare services in the area.
Patients who come to the health center with problems that cannot be treated there are referred to the Bindu Government Hospital, which is around 100 kilometers distant.
According to sources at the health center, certain patients admitted to the institution are occasionally forced to purchase prescription pharmaceuticals from local chemical stores.
There are just two wards in the facility: one for maternity care and another for male and female patients. There is no washroom in the 'unisex' ward. Reaction
Ibrahim Abubakar, the facility's Medical Assistant, declined to comment on the incident.
However, Joseph Louknaan, the District Chief Executive for Bunkpurugu/Nakpanduri, stated that the health center had run out of medical consumables owing to unpaid National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) claims.
"I've had multiple complaints, so I talked to the District Health Director, and he said they're not obtaining medications from the Regional Medical Stores because of non-payment of claims."
"We also don't have accredited pharmacies here where health care providers can always prescribe for people to go and collect so that NHIS pays afterward." So the facility's only alternative is to suggest that they go out and buy," he says.
"I believe that when we finish the Agenda 111 hospitals project, it would help alleviate the difficulties," he added, adding that the facility was not up to the quality of a health center.
Concerns
Currently, the health center's three ambulances are all broken down, forcing the public to rely on motorbikes to transport patients on referrals.
Naamimok, a pregnant lady, told the Daily Graphic that she was prescribed a medicine to buy in town since the prescription covered by the NHIS was out of stock.
"The problem is that I'm pregnant, and the nearest drug shop is a long way away," she explained.
Another local, Konlan Larbik, urged authorities to provide the hospital with medical supplies to improve healthcare. Dr. John B. Eleeza, the Northern Regional Health Director, revealed that the North East Region owes the Regional Medical Stores around GH6 million during the 2021 Annual Health Sector Performance Review Meeting in Nalerigu in April.
"The reason we don't have enough medications in our facilities, both in the Northern and North East areas, is because we have amassed such large debts that our suppliers are now threatening to stop supplying us if we don't pay."
"As of yesterday's closure, the North East alone owed nearly GH6 million, Northern Region owed about the same, and Savannah Region owed just a bit more. So, if we are unable to pay our suppliers, there will come a moment when we must.