Ghana’s premier health-care facility, Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, has only 95 Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) for its essential front-line workers to battle the Covid- 19 pandemic.
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Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the hospital, Dr Daniel Asare revealed this on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen programme Friday.
His comment comes after staff of the hospital threatened strike action over the non-availability of PPEs for protection.
In a memo to their leaders, the doctors admitted it was dangerous for a sideward at the department to be used as a coronavirus isolation centre while they lack PPEs.
Reacting to their concerns, Dr Asare said they have some of the PPEs but they are “woefully inadequate.”
He indicated that, out of the 94 available they have sent 25 to the department where the health workers threatened the strike.
The Korle Bu CEO revealed how it is becoming almost impossible for them to get the PPEs to buy.
However, he has managed to get a supplier who has promised to get them 100 PPEs for a start.
“We are buying COVID-19 packs with our internally generated funds to be used for the week while we wait for the PPEs being imported by the Ministry of Health,” he added.
Dr Asare noted that, on average, Korle Bu needs about 1,500 PPEs for its staff to work effectively.
He urged staff to use internal communication channels to get their concerns addressed than “washing our dirty linens in public”
Dr Asare also appealed to the government to expedite action in getting the PPEs to the referral centre.